None of us started 2020 thinking that we’d suddenly be shifting our thinking, our lifestyles, our philosophical perspectives, or our mental health and well-being to include things like social distancing and other mitigation strategies or virtual learning in Kindergarten, but here we are, living the… well, you get the picture.

As an elementary principal in a small, rural community in Southwest Virginia, I often feel as though my perspective is overlooked, underappreciated, and/or not important. I recognize that in our corner of the commonwealth, we have a smaller percentage of “this” or a lower number of “that” and we don’t have the same exposure to (or lack of exposure from) “the other.” These things in no way lessen our challenges and our needs, especially in the midst of a global pandemic. Join me on a journey through the paradigm shift that comes from educating the future from 2020 on.