what’s your biggest takeaway from this year?

connections

In each issue of Among Friends, we pose a question to our community, and print as many responses as we can fit! THIS ISSUE’S QUESTION: What is your biggest takeaway from this year on the power of community?

Community to me this year has meant a place to be together—in person and virtually, a place of affinity, learning and activism, a place of friendship.

– Aneesha Capur Kelly, Current Parent

Our son Owen joined the SFFS community this school year as a first grader. Because we were expecting a baby, Owen did Friends@Home all the way through spring break and just returned to campus. Even though our family has never met most of Owen’s classmates and parents in person, we were showered with support from the Friends community when our new baby Cole arrived. Families sent us meals and delivered homemade care packages, and they truly made those early weeks do-able. We were floored by the generosity extended to us and the willingness of others to go out of their way to help. To us, community has meant being welcomed warmly, even when we couldn’t be physically present. We are so grateful for SFFS!

– Amber Johnson Binkley, Current Parent

In a time of such unknowing and shifts, community has meant smiling faces, supportive listening and dialogue, and knowing our decisions make an impact. The gratitude I’ve felt for my work has deepened my commitment to seeing communities around me nurtured and renewed.

– Jeremy Mikush, Kindergarten Teaching Aide

That there’s no substitute for showing up for your people—obviously in a crisis but also as importantly in the everyday, when it doesn’t feel as urgent but really actually is. The hustle of the before times was so depleting. When more of us slowed down and stayed put, we saw how attention was like nutrition for our relationships. It’s something we knew. But the pandemic made us feel it and learn it in a deeper way.

– Vinnee Tong, Current Parent

Community this year has been a vitally important source of strength, nourishment, and connection for me. While we were not able to physically close to each other, I feel our shared sense of purpose brought us together in powerful ways.

– Guybe Slangen, Director of Community Engagement & Current Parent

At SFFS, community has been the sustaining bond between the school and my 7th grade daughter. The deep relationships she has built over the years at Friends kept her connected to her friends throughout the pandemic. The staff and teachers invest energy into both academics and relationships. This was crucial to draw upon during the pandemic. This foundation kept my daughter grounded in herself and her academics.

– Sue Hirsch, Current Parent

My biggest takeaway on community from this [experience] is that I didn’t know how important it was to me to be able to go inside the school. Pre-COVID, I’d find myself in the building or out in the yard at least twice a week, and I now realize that I took that for granted. Not being able to say hi to Claudia, wave to my daughter’s former teachers, see Mike go bounding by, run into fellow parents, watch the students play in the yard during ED—those were all painfully missed over the last 15 months. It was so wonderful to see the building full of life again in the fall once students returned, even if it wasn’t full time. And I absolutely cannot wait until the next in-person community MFW, whenever that may be. 250 Valencia, I miss you! – Shawn Wrobel, PA Co-Clerk & Current Parent