Business has not stopped to wait for the various school districts to make decisions. Remote learning has become a staple in our communities that parents, grandparents and communities are having to master for the sake of our children. There are assignments to complete, schedules to keep and an array of thoughts and fears that engulf the minds of those involved. Multigenerational anxiety must be dealt with along with the daily routines that happen in our life. Children must focus, parents must plan, grandparents must support and all must improve their agility.
Agile minds are not a natural occurrence. Most will admit they enjoy routines and the certainty of knowing what is going to occur. In the current environment with school districts, certainty and routine are words soon forgotten. Agility is defined as the ability to move quickly or easily, it requires processing information effectively and timely to make a decision that you and others can follow. It is known that you become good at those things which you practice. Professionals that have not had practice being agile are not very good at it.
Entrepreneurs are agile by very nature because they are the trailblazers to make their business successful. They often have to do business unconventionally as thy build one business while working for another. Marketing, sales, administration, finance and human resources are all areas the entrepreneur must be versed. This must be done seamlessly and smoothly, or quickly and easily to stay specific with our topic. Every successful professional has an entrepreneurial mind that takes ownership of their responsibility in the company.
Parents must do the same as they take ownership of their children’s education in the current fluid environment. Each child must have the dedication and the specific guidance to thrive in the environment which will help them. This takes agility. The agility is not just to help the child, but to also maintain a work environment that is conducive to productivity and low stress.
In Winston-Salem lies a small nonprofit that is as agile as I have ever seen. They are quickly and easily adjusting to the changing environment of the school district in order to help the children and their families be successful. They are Imprints Cares and they have from the onset of COVID-19 served essential workers. They have been known for their before and after school care, yet they grabbed remote learning by the throat and mastered it. When asked, the staff are not without challenges. Betty West (Program Director, Expanded Learning) says they must keep the children engaged and at their computer for long periods of time. These challenges are matched by parents that did not sign up to be teachers and are now having to budget for others (Imprints Cares) to do their child’s remote learning.
Betty gives the following advice to parents, “Routine and scheduling, day to day consistency! And don’t be so hard on yourself, just do the best you can. Your stress will become your child’s stress.” The City Insight wants to help. One of our contributing writers has written an article about a fun dish to make as a family. It is called Pumpkin Pasta and it is just what is needed as you’re moving forward . . . Achieving Excellence!
