I always enjoy the spring because it’s when I start looking at the changes I plan for next year.  The year is about to end, and several of the changes we made last year are working well.  But there is always room for improvement.  By this time of year, I can usually even give a couple of the ideas a “trial run,” so to say. 

Sure, there are downsides to spring at school, not the least of which (for the kids) is still being in school!  The elementary kids are dying to play outside, and the secondary are beginning the conversion to their summer nocturnal selves – a real problem when they still must get up and come to school after those precious two hours of sleep! But some of the greatest catharses come in the spring of the school year. 

Regional and state competitions all occur in spring.  Champions meet to compete against other champions, and wins and losses are totaled. Still, everyone’s happy just to have made it to the championship, and all have strategies for making it further next year.  The malaise often attributed to seasonal depression is lifting, and teens usually cloaked in all black don shorts and sun dresses.  And grade schoolers try incredibly hard to focus on the event that keeps interrupting their recesses!

I think whoever decided that resolutions should come on New Year’s Day really didn’t understand the human psyche.  In the middle of winter, we’re not ready to change anything.  We’re hunkered down in our softest jammies, waiting out the bitter cold.  My greatest resolutions – and they are the greatest because I actually keep them – come the first days of spring.  That’s when I feel like creating something new.  Happy Spring everybody!

-          Michelle