“I think as a father one thing that the pandemic did was make my paternal instinct to make sure I was taking care of my wife and kids significant,” Brett Kilgore, CHS Economics and Geometry teacher said.
For Kilgore, the pandemic caused him to focus on his devotion to his immediate family: his wife and three kids. He agonized over the socialization of his kids as well as their education. Coming out of the pandemic, though, he hopes to re-strengthen relationships with his own siblings.
“There was a lot of brokenness that happened [in my extended] family,” Kilgore said. “People were not getting along.”
Along with focusing on his extended family, Kilgore is working on himself and loved ones at home. He has begun to create a ‘margin’ for prioritizing time only to be spent on his kids. He has learned that scheduling out every hour of the day leaves little room for error. That room for error being: a kid getting sick, needing to pick someone up last minute, or needing to be home early for his kids while his wife is working.
Learning the power of not having a full schedule has helped Kilgore create space for things not to ‘crumble’. He believes that it is okay to say no to ‘good things’. Those things are opportunities that enrich Kilgore’s life but aren’t essential to his day to day schedule. He has found that in creating a ‘safety net’ for things to come up, he has found himself enjoying his life more than he has the past two years. It has allowed him to be fulfilled by the things that he has time to do, and not worry about the things he doesn’t have time for.
“It is easier to say ‘no’ right off of the bat,”Kilgore said. “It is much easier and more respectful than having to tell someone later that you can no longer do it.”
Kilgore also believes that CHS is in the healing process, as well as the reconstructing process. Through the pandemic the school went through major staff changes: teachers retired, switched schools, went into other professions, etc. CHS was also not able to continue with traditions while online learning was in place or when social distancing had to be practiced on a daily basis.
“I think seeing the finish line with construction is going to be a beautiful thing in terms of logistics,” Kilgore said. “Also Forum’s being able to really settle into their rooms and establish those routines will help bring back old traditions.”
Coming out of the throes of Covid, Kilgore anticipates that with re-establishing routines: trying to bring old ones back to life, as well as creating new ones will help ‘naturally’ bring people through the healing process.
With the first week of school being done, Kilgore was able to meet with the entire staff and connect through their very first meeting. He believes that the new group of individuals has a lot to offer and will each bring a lot to the table.
“If we can share this load [of teaching], get across some of those finish lines and be the best versions of ourselves for our students, I think that is when we can provide the best educational experiences.”
