STAY.AT.HOME.
O.K. Day one and I did really well. I only went out once and that was to check on the NY Bagel and Deli restaurant as they were selling product and produce AT COST! Wow! That was awesome and I will definitely be showing my loyalty to them when this is all said and done!
You know the benefits of living in the safety and security of a small town come with the obligation to support and patronize community businesses. In times like these, we will be hit the hardest with the least chance of recovery! I know I have felt the blessing of many CDPA dance families who have demonstrated their love and support during this time. It is my goal to still be standing at the end of this earthquake, for the kids, for the parents, for the community, for the history and yes, selfishly, for me. Many people have said, you are doing so much for so many right now, don't forget to do something for yourself! Oh but I am, after my children and family, the studio is my heart and soul; it has been my constant companion for 30 yrs and there are memories and madness than could fill Lake Butler wrapped up in the comings and goings of CDPA. The outpouring of love and devotion from some of our most successful alumni are evidence of that and I am so thankful that God blessed me with a talent I could make my life-blood.
I appreciate the drive to stay on track right now and am eternally grateful for the work of Mrs Eva and Miss Elizabeth especially ,along with Miss Anna to get prerecorded content done and uploaded for our students. I think it is imperative to understand that we are not all on track right now-not you, not the kids, not the teachers and certainly not me. The studio is a 30 yr investment, but the extenuating circumstances are making it extremely difficult to address organizational issues right now for personal and business needs. We all know that Stay-at-Home does not mean, Time-on-Hands. The days are still only 24 hours long and the stress level and learning curve makes the load twice as heavy on any given day. I am saying this because I know I have innundated our families with "things-to-do" and surveys-of-thought and I am sorry for that inconvenience. Every step I take needs to be carefully calculated against resources and potential financial balance. We are ALL a part this domino effect!
The emotional stress and communicative engagement right now is over the top. I cannot think straight because my life is compartmentalized and my thought bubbles are assigned to each physical location (and the tote bag or dance bag I carry to that place). Since I do not have a variety of PHYSICAL spaces to visit in order to segment out the thoughts and ideas that are assigned to THAT venue,I am lost inside some virtual nightmare on conditions, regulations, thoughts, ideas, votes, strategies, platforms, etc. My multi-tasking skills have been siphoned into a vortex with all potential actions and notions spinning into void resulting in zero productivity.
For those of us actively teaching dance nation-wide, we have gone from a best practices strategy of delivering content to large groups with continuous formative assessment and critique ongoing and simultaneous for a prescribed amount of time to tending to our student load delivery and assessment on a one-on-one basis. Unlike the math teachers, we don't have materials that we regularly use or that the students are adapted to at this time. So then my school student load at 173 plus my studio load puts me at over 300 individually based learning relationships. Layer onto that the emotional needs and mental distress sandwiched in between the administrative pressure and even personal hygiene has to wait in line.
I will do my best for our studio, but to be honest, I am terrified to disappoint our students and parents and even more terrified to fail. - With love and grace, Dr K
