This is an opportunity to create safe spaces to discuss with our children the issues at hand to help them manage the anger, fear, and anxiety many of them may be experiencing during this time of change. As adults and educators, we are tasked with teaching our children a variety of fundamentals they will need to be successful in life, including how to be respectful, empathetic, and considerate.

We have a responsibility to educate our children about the ideals on which this country was founded, but to also be aware that there are people who face injustices and that steps can be taken to make our world a better place for all of us.

This is a time to reassure our children that we in fact do have the capacity to open the minds of others in a peaceful, respectable manner. We should all live in a county where a person can take pride in celebrating their own individuality, cultural differences, and traditions.

Now is a time for us to all join together to do our part. For those who have made the decision to peacefully protest and show solidarity in a commitment to be the change so desired, it is critical to support their ability to do so. There is no room for violent and destructive behavior like what we are seeing across the United States. To preserve the ideals of our democracy, it will take a collective effort of our education system, our dedicated law enforcement, and our court system, to maintain those ideals.

It is up to us to be the change that is so needed in our country for the sake of our children and grandchildren. We must use this moment as a turning point, and work to replace hate and bigotry, with love, respect and dignity.

In a moment like this, I am reminded of when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., stated that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

It is a pleasure to serve as your Superintendent of Schools.

Jeff Aranguena
Superintendent
Mariposa County Unified School District
Source: MCUSD