As summer swiftly moves into fall, we arrive at a new school year. Most colleges and universities have already begun and primary and secondary schools are set to begin this week. Millions of students will be flowing into school buildings, and 
classrooms, running onto athletic fields and into gymnasiums all over the country. It is an annual phenomenon that brings us to the crossroads of hope and opportunity with every new academic year. It’s a brand new opportunity for each and every student to make a first impression, a fresh start, to take the chance to “turn the corner” or make a change in a brand new school year with new teachers and new friends. Many students are moving to new schools or new cities, but most are at least moving on to the next grade with new teachers and the opportunity to reset and make this year the best school year ever.
For educators, teachers, administrators and parents, we have the hope that we too can take a giant step forward and have a tremendous impact on our students in the year ahead of us. In short, it’s a new school year and right now ALL things are possible. It’s a new season and we all need to take full advantage of this moment to reflect on what last year was about for each of us, and what we learned from it. What do we want to change and what have we made of the “lessons learned”? But most importantly, how would we assess where we are right now as we stand at the threshold of this brand new year?
Last year, as in each school year before, there were successes and failures, great achievements and disappointments too, but here we are once again at the beginning of a brand-new year full of promise and possibility. Last year, our national disgrace once again was on display as a disgruntled and deranged individual with a gun took the lives of 17 beautiful students and staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida while seriously injuring 17 others.
In the aftermath of the mass shooting, the students of MDS High School became “Drum Majors for Justice” as they led a movement against gun violence and lobbied for sensible gun control. They formed a political action committee called Never Again MSD and demanded legislative action from lawmakers on firearms. The amazing courage and leadership demonstrated by these young students in Parkland galvanized the entire nation and the world to come together on March 24th for a massive march on Washington at the March for Our Lives protest and rally that was joined by the global community in solidarity calling out legislators and lawmakers in local, state and national government to DO Something to change the culture and the laws that make America the world’s leading nation for gun violence and domestic terrorism, especially at our nation’s schools and academic institutions.
As we cross into this new school year, let us pray for the safety and security of our nation’s schools and academic institutions. We can continue to hope and pray that our students can jump into their studies free from the concern of mass shootings or violent attacks by individuals who have no business with a firearm, or we can work together to change the legislators, who continue to work with the gun lobby and the gun industry instead of working FOR our kids and our communities, to change the culture and to change the LAWS. #VOTE #NEVERAGAIN
