Deborah Martel Rogers' Blog

August 31st, 2020 "In Loco Parentis" II, by Deborah Martel Rogers, Harris' TOSA Bakersfield City School District         Before the pandemic, I wrote that I was more and more aware that -as an educational leader- I had to make a conscientious decision every day to align the heart, head and soul of our collective mission, in order to ensure that ALL of our children are served with excellence.    Then, the unthinkable happened. Not that it was the first time it had, but this time our common humanity decided that it was time to empower our disempowered brothers and sisters.    Yes, I am referring to empathy and compassion, social justice and a conscientious removal of systemic racism.    I am also making reference to pondering the subtle ways in which we can alienate or inspire our students and their parents, based on our words and actions. Beauty, like blue, black and brown, begin with the same letter as Best.   ...

Be prepared, not scared                                            Photography by Deborah Martel Rogers, Bakersfield, CA, 2020      We are living in very unique times. This has always been the case, but we all  probably got caught in our unique lives, and forgot about looking at each other in the eye, until one day we were reminded that the power of we is more empowering than the power of I.      We then began to see how, although some people continued to focus on themselves, so many others who chose to, like Mr. Rogers, look at the helpers in the back, the good people who continue  to believe in the human race, in the power of the human spirit.      If you are like me, you  are going to faith it, dance it, cry through it, laugh at it on its very face, and show, one more time, that we will kneel down to pray, ...