Dear CGD Community,
I never learned the Greek Alphabet. I never thought I would have the need. And yet, over the last few months, I have been faced with learning how to pronounce the Greek letter Ο, or Omicron. Today, no matter the news source, there is a report of how the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus is impacting our lives.
It has been nearly two years since I began the process of interviewing for the Superintendent position here in the Clarion-Goldfield-Dows School District. In that time, I have learned a great deal about our community and met many people. As most of you that know me by now realize, I am “all-in” when it comes to our schools and this community that represents three towns. Most of all, I am “all-in” when it comes to supporting the people that make up our community as a whole.
It has been the honor of my lifetime to serve as your Superintendent and I have grown to respect and cherish the fact that we are one community, united through our schools, across three different towns and the blacktop and gravel that connects us. Today, I am calling on each of you to join me in staying united as one as we support our students, our businesses, and our community.
A friend of mine shared with me recently that he registers as an Independent voter so that it remains clear to the people he serves that his focus is on his students, not politics. He learned that focus while serving in the United States Army where their mission was always the most important, right behind the people under his charge.
Today, our mission is to ensure that our community stays open amidst growing health concerns that have and will continue to impact our community and to ensure the health and safety of our friends and neighbors. Our students and teachers need to go to school, and we all need to be able to walk into the places we do business on a routine basis without limitation. You would need to simply ask a student or teacher or business owner that was at home in April of 2020 the importance of both.
I am not here to argue for or against masking, nor am I hear to argue about the merits of receiving a vaccine or not. Those are personal choices. However, I would ask that you join me in respecting the decisions that our friends and neighbors make regarding these, and other decisions that impact your lives on a daily basis, regardless of if those decisions align with your personal view. This will all end one day. Our lives will get back to a normal that resembles what it did two years ago this month. And when it does end, we will not want disagreements that may have divided a few in the heat of this challenge to continue to divide us.
Together, we have grown as a community over the last 22 months during this pandemic. We are stronger together when we are united. Our kids feel that unity, and it is reflected in the work that each of us do daily when we go to work. We have proven that we can keep our schools and businesses open. We have proven that we can be united in our efforts to support a good life in this community. Please join me now in ensuring that we remain together in our efforts to meet our mission of remaining open and staying healthy this winter.
Thank you for your continued support of our schools and this community. We are all in this together, and we are stronger because of it!
Sincerely,
Joseph Nelson, Superintendent
