January 3, 2021

Let’s Talk ESP Blog: Hope

Let’s Talk ESP Blog: Hope Featured Image
Gail Kablau

By Gail Kablau

The beginning of a new calendar year brings with it resolutions, looking ahead, and the hope for something better. Especially this year, for oh, so many reasons – we all need hope, something to look forward to, something that brings us together, healing. 

And whether it’s healing from a year of living through a pandemic, the political chaos that has erupted in our nation, or the civic unrest response in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd and others, we all need it. Hope. 

In public education, we have been dealing with unrest since the days of No Child Left Behind policies, and then in Wisconsin with the passage of Act 10 and crippling policies that rob our Districts of necessary funding, and now teaching through a pandemic without any clear guidelines from our National or our State government. While it seems a daunting task to undo years of bad policy against public education, and working for better policies in teaching through the pandemic, as a Union we have been and will continue to fight for positive change going forward. Hope.

The chaos we currently are living in affects us on a daily basis, both personally and professionally. It dictates how we live our lives, and how we are able to and how we do educate our children. Our perspective on that chaos shapes how we cope with life and move forward each and every day. If our perspective lives in the doom and gloom, that is what we project to others. If we can focus our perspective on how to make things better one day at a time, that can give us a sense of purpose and satisfaction. I have heard so many stories of the creative and caring ways our ESP members have done this throughout the pandemic. Hope.

But hope isn’t just something we wish for. We must work together to achieve it. If you hope for social justice, the end to restrictions imposed because of COVID-19, or a more civil and compassionate government, you must be willing to commit to do what is necessary to be a part of the solution. Hoping that someone else will do something about it isn’t enough. 

So, this year, instead of writing a list of resolutions that are forgotten a short time later, make a commitment to something that gives you hope, and let’s work together towards making things better. 

What are your hopes for 2021, and what are you willing to do to achieve it?  Let’s Talk!

Gail Kablau is the WEAC Education Support Professional (ESP)-at-Large Board Representative. Contact her at: gdkablau@gmail.com.