Video Transcript:
Liebe TCGIS Gemeinshaft,
we hope you are staying healthy and adjusting to distance learning. Today we have a special message for all you from the members of the school board. We hope you enjoy it.
To the TCGIS community: The TCGIS board is so grateful for all your dedication to TCGIS during this unprecedented global emergency. It is hard to imagine that, just a few weeks ago, our daily lives looked very different. Our school community is strong and guided by our mission, vision and values. Our mission is innovative education of the whole child through German immersion.
Our vision is
Andere hören, andere sehen, weltoffen denken und handeln
.
Our values are curiosity, kindness, challenge and support, intercultural engagement, and community.
To our 8th graders:
you’ve been greatly affected by this crisis, and it just isn’t fair that this pandemic impacted your Capstone trip, your last few months with friends, and your TCGIS graduation. We hope we can find a creative way to create closure and celebrate with you, the TCGIS class of 2020.
To our educators:
You’ve risen to a challenge no one saw coming, and we are grateful beyond words. You chose careers in education to engage with kids, but not in this socially distanced way. You’re bringing new meaning to “innovative education.”
Thank you for making it work, for trying new ways (and trying again), for knowing what works today might need to be different tomorrow, for being on the look-out for kids that are having a rough day that might have nothing to do with academics.
When our kids are themselves parents and grandparents, they will still remember you: your names, your faces, how you encouraged them, how you made them feel welcome and cared for, how you helped guide them through this time.
We know this is a sad and frustrating time for you too, and we hope things will be better soon. Please know that we miss you, and our kids miss you even more.
To our parents:
the success of the TCGIS mission has always depended on your support, but now you're being asked to play a new, expanded role in guiding and supporting your children as they navigate new ways of learning, in addition to the extra social and emotional support they need during this time.
Extra patience and understanding are at a premium during this extraordinarily stressful time, and you’ve brought those and more. Thank you for your kindness, your support, and your commitment to using the bonds of community to keep us together during a very challenging time.
To all our students:
you’re doing great, even when it doesn’t feel like it. The whole TCGIS community – your friends, your family, your educators – is here for you. And we’re all very proud of you.
We hope to see you all in person very soon. Even while we're physically apart, we're still building a school together.
Ted Anderson, Julie Alkatout, Silke Moeller, Sam Imbo, Lisa Linnell, Rich Iwen, Dianne Bell, Richard Heid, Emily Albers, Chris Tabisz, Stephanie Forsland
