McKinleyville Union School District Home

June 21, 2021

 

Dear MUSD students, staff and families,

What a year this has been!  Our lives have been forever impacted by the global pandemic forever known as the COVID 19 virus. It was hard, we hit bumps and valleys, but together we are climbing out of the darkness and into a new light.

I want to send a heartfelt thank you to our amazing students and their families for sticking with your neighborhood school. Research shows that attending one’s neighborhood public school significantly strengthens the community in a multitude of ways. Your on-going commitment to complete what was asked of you, even when it was hard and challenging never went unnoticed.

To our amazing MUSD staff...this year could not have happened if not for the love of your students and your dedication to teaching. We learned new skills, delivered instruction in unfamiliar ways and forged positive and healthy relationships with our students. For this, I am eternally grateful.

At the beginning of the year, I brought our staff together and we watched an inspirational video of Denzel Washington delivering a college graduation speech. Although we were not graduating, his primary message seemed to resonate, especially given the complexity of this year. He said, “When times get hard, don’t fall back...fall forward”. We learn more when we fall forward. Well, I can say without hesitation, all of us, young, middle and old, fell forward a lot this year but in doing so we have learned so much that we will take us into the future. We learned new ways of delivering instruction via engaged technologies; we learned that student and staff social-emotional health is as important as academic progress; we learned to rely upon one another in times of difficulty; we learned to find “new ways to do new things”; we learned about the power of resilience; we learned that whether in-person or distance learning, relationships matter; we learned that MUSD is a critical component within our community. 

As we head into the next school year, where we plan to be Back in Action, please remember this… when we fall forward, it means we tried and next time we try, we will have learned a little something from the last attempt(s). Once you get it, whatever it is you are attempting to accomplish, reach back and pull someone else up. Each one of us can teach one...heck, we can teach many!

Farewell to our 8th grade class. You gave us some real memories. We wish you happiness, health and accomplishment in your next adventure. To the rest of you who will remain within the MUSD family, we can’t wait to see you next year when we are able to return back in person for full days. Looking forward to catching up.

Until the Beginning of the Year, Stay Well and Be KIND!

 

Heidi Moore-Guynup, Superintendent