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page 8 The WORLD April 28, 2021
“April Showers Bring May Flowers”
By Debra Paul
April is coming to an end we still have our boots, umbrellas,
and rain ponchos out for the rainy or even snowy days.
The age-old saying “April Showers Bring May Flowers”
still holds true today. But where did this saying originate? The
saying originated from a poem that dates back to the year
1157 that was written by Thomas Tusser. The line in the poem
is: “Sweet April showers do spring May flowers”.
If we travel back in time a bit further to the end of the 14th
Century, the poet, Geoffrey Chaucer, had this to say about the
month of April, in his famous collection of stories entitled,
“The Canterbury Tales.”
Chaucer’s version in translation is: “When in April the
sweet showers fall, That pierce March’s drought to the root
and all, And bathed every vein in liquor that has power, To
generate therein and sire the flower”.
Although it may be said Thomas Tusser is the father of this
saying, Geoffrey Chaucer is certainly the creator.
The idea was likely posed to urge us out of the depression
that looms during the long hard winter and dreary, rainy
months of early spring. We are encouraged to look forward to
the month of May and the sunny and much more pleasant
weather ahead.
Thinking about other sayings like: “weeping endures for a
night, but joy comes in the morning”; “there is a silver lining
Parent Child Centers: Invest in Families, Invest in
Children, Invest in Vermont
Claire Kendall, Co Director, Family Center of Washington
County Margot Holmes, Director, Springfield Area Parent
Child Center
This last year the pandemic has upended our families, our
communities and our world. Parent Child Centers across
Vermont have offered a constant safety net of support for
families through it all. Parent Child Centers have provided
essential basic needs such as access to food, diapers, technology
tools needed to ensure education and service access, and
concrete financial supports to ensure or attain housing security.
PCCs have served as a lifeline to parents with young
children who are isolated and at risk both through virtual
parent support and connection as well as in-person supports,
often delivering to families many of the vital resources and
goods families need but often could not safely obtain to get
through the pandemic.
One of the most remarkable things about Parent Child
Centers is their potential involvement in every aspect of a
family’s life because we create communities of support where
families are not afraid to ask for help. Our staff pick up food
at the foodbank for the family without transportation and
bring it directly to them. The child that doesn’t enter the foster
care system as a result of parent education and support groups
provided by Parent Child Centers saves the state of Vermont
thousands of dollars. The single mom that makes connections
with other parents at a Parent Child Center playgroup creates
a social safety net that provides the peer support to make it
through the rough patches. The new father that gets a visit
from a Parent Child Center home visitor can help access the
tools he needs to be the best father he can be.
Research has shown time and again that investing in prevention
and young children and families saves thousands of
dollars down the road. We know that adult-child relationships
and other early experiences influence child well-being. Parent
after each dark cloud”; and “this too shall pass”.
The reality of death producing new life parallels with
spring the thought of sunshine following a season of gloom
and sadness.
The idea of this saying “April showers brings May flowers”
shadows what we are all experiencing right now.
It is a reminder that even the most unpleasant of things, in
this case the virus of 2020, will pass and we can hope and
expect enjoyable times in the near future. “Light at the end of
the tunnel” and “a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow” all
apply.
Looking forward to “May flowers” and happier days ahead
is on all of our minds.
“April showers bring May flowers” is also a lesson in
patience, and one that remains valid today. Many of life’s
greatest things come only to those who wait, patiently.
Take in the sights and smells of May and the rebirth of life.
After all, if you have an optimistic outlook positive thing are
sure to happen.
Remember these things: “there has never been a wind that
did not change directions, clouds do not hang forever and
April showers bring May flowers.
The point here is that after all this we will come out better
prepared and stronger. Sometimes you have to go though
something hard to truly understand what is most important.
Child Centers provide evidence-informed and research-based
interventions that build resilience in both children and their
caregivers through extensive family support programming.
This leads to better health outcomes. As the Center for the
Developing Child at Harvard University states “.....supporting
families with young children and strengthening responsive
relationships not only builds a foundation for social-emotional
development, school readiness, and future learning; it also
strengthens the building blocks for a lifetime of physical and
mental health.”
Parent Child Centers do this work in many important ways:
supporting parent/child bonding/attachment; prenatal/postpartum
support; family systems work; child screenings; referrals
and access to supports and services across the state; support
accessing state systems and funding; access for families
to concrete supports; supporting parenting women in getting
back into the workforce. Parent Child Centers are codified in
Vermont statute and provide consistent services across the
state as well as being responsive to local community and family
needs, our flexibility in this way sets our services apart
from others.
When we invest in families getting the support they need
they are able to give back to healthy and strong communities.
“Policies and programs that reduce stress, prevent toxic exposures,
and provide support for pregnant mothers and families
with infants and toddlers will result in better health outcomes
across the lifespan and save billions in health care costs”
(Center for the Developing Child, Harvard University). Now
is the time to strengthen Parent Child Centers and make a
policy investment in our network of services for children and
families. We are asking our leaders to be brave. It’s critical to
ask -can we afford not to spend more on children and families?
This is the opportunity of a lifetime. Invest in families,
invest in children, invest in Vermont.
Why Black History Month is Failing Our Students
• • •
• • •
By Chris Dodge
In February, thousands of dedicated and well-meaning educators
just like myself scour their classrooms and school
libraries for books on Martin Luther King, Jr., Harriet,
Tubman, Rosa Parks, and other famous Black Americans. It’s
Black History Month, and the concept is failing our students.
I fell into the trap, too, big time this year, as I visited many
classrooms in my school carrying books on famous Black
Americans and reading and discussing them with children as
young as age three. I even went so far as to buy four books on
famous Black Americans for every student in my school to
send home after I presented them in their classes. I entered
classrooms armed and ready to have courageous conversations
about racism in a different way this year, more deeply
than before, not just read the books and call it a day. I was
pleased with myself for stepping out of my comfort zone and
diving into this work school-wide, and I felt prepared by a
barrage of professional learning aimed specifically at how to
talk about race.
Late on a Thursday afternoon, I finished reading the fourth
book in a National Geographic series for children on famous
Black Americans to a third and fourth grade class of engaged
and attentive students. As with each of the previous books, I
read the story with gusto, paused to discuss new vocabulary
and the main ideas, to garner students’ thoughts on the subject
and help them think critically about the material, and to check
their understanding. I had written a letter to families about
each book, encouraging discussion at home, and I sent that
letter home with every story. I was pleased with myself, to say
the least. Sounds great, right? And then, it all came crashing
down.
“I sure am glad that we don’t have racism anymore,” one of
our brightest fourth graders proclaimed.
I was stunned, and it was in that very moment that I realized
a fundamental flaw in how we teach students about racism.
Not only do we teach the concepts in isolation – often
only in February when the calendar suggests – but we all too
often teach about racism and discrmination uniquely as a
historical problem. My students could tell me exactly what I
wanted to hear about Dr. King’s dream speech, Rosa Parks’s
bravery on that bus 1955, or how Harriet Tubman led slaves
to freedom. And, that’s where their knowledge ended. With
slavery abolished, Black Americans sitting freely on busses,
and women being able to vote, my students celebrated the fact
that equality reigns supreme, and that there would be no reason
to even consider the lasting effects of our history, or that
discrimination and racism might still plague our nation and
our schools.
My heart sunk as I polled the class, asking them to raise
their hands if they thought that racism still existed. There was
not a single hand in the air. With ten minutes to spare, I tried
desperately to give examples and convince the group that racism
did not end with the events we had studied, and that we
each need to play a part in the continued battle against modern
day discrimination. And they looked at me like I had three
heads.
I was deflated. While I knew that sharing books and having
discussions with students about historical racism wasn’t in
and of itself bad, it wasn’t enough. I had fallen short of my
obligation to help them connect the historical context to the
present day, and that had potentially done harm, not only to
them, but to any marginalized population that still struggles
with discrmination. Passively and unintentionally, by only
presenting the material in the past tense, I had led my students
to believe that racism no longer exists. I also risked some of
my students not seeing themselves, and their struggles with
race-related issues, in our learning.
In the coming days I worked feverishly to mend the error
of my ways with individual and group conversations. I tried
desperately to help students understand that the work is not
complete, that each of us needs to examine our own beliefs
and how they impact others, and that racism very much still
exists. I hope they understood. I believe they did, no matter
how abstract it may have seemed.
I will teach differently next time. I will discuss racism
regularly, not just in February. And, I will start with a modern
day context and work my way back in time to help my students
understand how we got to where we are. Without question,
it is important to celebrate the progress our country has
made, and the brave individuals that led that work, and especially
to recognize the continued work ahead. In order to
repair the damage of our history, we must first acknowledge
the racism of our present. This learning is a necessary gift to
all of our students, both as the future policy makers who will
work to end modern day inequities, and as compassionate
citizens who will lead the way in creating a world that is fair
and just.
Chris Dodge is principal at Fletcher Elementary School in
Fletcher, Vermont.