Rocket Rundown
March 9, 2020
Theme of the Week: A Culture of Love
"The Bicentennial Lunch Lady"
I’m the youngest in my family, and I’m turning 50 this year, so maybe that explains why I have been thinking so much about the past lately. I’ve never been good at just taking things as they come. I’m cursed with the need to find meaning in things and the desire to know that what I’m doing in my life matters. British poet Matthew Arnold once wrote that a person should always know “the hills where his life rose.” I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my “hills.” That brings me back to a pivotal event in my life that occurred just a few months after the sudden death of one of my very best friends. It was November of 2017, but the story really begins in 1976. It’s kind of a lot, but please stick with me. I hope there’s something in here you might find worthwhile.
In 1976, I was in 1st grade at a small neighborhood school in Worcester. Like most of Worcester’s neighborhood schools at that time, it was so small that there was only 1 class of each grade level, K-6. And there was only 1 lunch lady. She was the kitchen staff and the serving staff all in one, serving breakfast and lunch every day for many years to the motley assortment of lower middle-class kids who attended her school. Everyone who attended that school knew her well and, more importantly, knew that she loved us – all of us. We didn’t really know how much until we ran into her again 41 years later.
1976 was the nation’s 200th birthday; the bicentennial. Every school did something to celebrate in what was a nationwide, loosely coordinated authentic lesson in American history. Among the many activities our school undertook, a time capsule was constructed, filled with memorable items, and sealed. The plan was to open it 20 years later, but it was forgotten until an employee at the Worcester Historical Museum stumbled across it and coordinated a ceremony that took place on a November Saturday in 2017. Many people now in their 40’s and 50’s made their way to the museum for an unofficial reunion and the opening of the capsule. I brought my son so he too could get a sense of where his dad came from. He was bored senseless! But it was pretty cool when they opened up the time capsule and pulled out well-preserved essays, poems, quilts and art work – all student-made in 1976. And, of course, the Vinny Barbarino shirt drew the loudest cheers!
While the items were really cool, it was the people who made the event. It was so good to see so many of the faces of my early youth. This was indeed one of my important “hills.” But as my son and I walked away, one topic stood out above all. My lunch lady. She was there to greet everyone at the entrance, and when she saw me, now a much older, weathered version of the boy she last saw nearly 40 years ago, she yelled in an excited tone, “Gregg Desto, get over here and give me a hug!” Then she pulled my son in for a long hug and said “I used to love your daddy and his friends just like this every day!” He was completely horrified, but I was deeply moved. While my career has caused me to become a less sentimental and more emotionally cautious person, I am moved to tears thinking about how much love my lunch lady has shared with so many generations of children. Love times infinity.
There’s a popular saying in education that “culture trumps strategy every time.” No matter how smart and cutting edge we are, it means little if we don’t have a culture of caring, civility and respect. And, motivated by my lunch lady, I will say a culture of love, too. I know that many will think I’m irrational, but I can’t help wondering how great our school would be if we loved every kid the way my lunch lady loved my friends and me. And I wonder how much better motivated our kids would be if we greeted them each day as if we hadn’t seen them in close to 40 years. Some of them will respond well to it and some won’t. But we should do it anyway.
And I don’t know how my lunch lady interacted with her colleagues at that school (now condominiums) so long ago. But we should always remember that in a business that is so emotionally taxing even on a good day, it really, really helps if we take care of each other, too.
We are living in crazy times – coronavirus, Democratic primaries, North Korea, the Middle East, social media and the regular stresses of life…we have a lot on our plates. Let’s make things a bit easier for one another by being positive and supportive.
Strategy / Tip of the Week
If you have a good idea that you are willing to have appear in this space, please send it to me - it could be individual or as a team.
Important Reminders for the Week Ahead
Tuesday
2:30 - Department Meetings
7:00 - Chorus Concert (at AHS)
Wednesday
Grade 8 Trip to Hanover Theater - grade 8 and 7 will switch lunches
1:45 - Student of the Month Celebration
3:30 - School Council
7:00 - School Committee Meeting
Thursday
Mr. Desto, Mrs. Watson and Mrs. Loew at West Street Office for training 8-2
3:30 - Unified Basketball Game #1 - more info to come
4:30 - Art Show at AHS
7:00 - Band Concert (at AHS)
Friday
Full day PD - no school for students