By DR. DEREK ARROWOOD
Hamilton Heights Superintendent
For the last two years, the Arrowood family has spent a week over Christmas break in St. Petersburg, Fla.
This year, using the theory that if one week is good, then a couple extra days would be better, we decided to extend our Florida stay a couple of days. Of course, when I say “we” I mean Kim.
We have this timeshare thingy that allows us to get really good rates on rooms at the last minute and we found a place in Orlando, Fla. Orlando met Kim’s criteria of being sunny and warm and the place had a really nice pool area to store up as much sun for Kim as possible to get ready for another semester of teaching elementary PE, so we booked it.
The challenge with Orlando is that doing nothing, which is my preferred mode of vacation, is really hard. Last night we ended up going to Disney Springs to get dinner. First off, the guy that said your children get cheaper as they get older is absolutely wrong. Secondly, at least Disney Springs has not been negatively impacted by COVID because that place was rocking on New Year’s Day.
We ended up parking in a parking garage at Disney Springs and I was even impressed with the parking garage. Maybe other places do this, but I had never seen it. Above each parking spot in this six-story garage hangs a light. The light is green if the spot is open and red if it is full, so as you drive through this garage you don’t have to get that irritated feeling you get at those “gotcha cars.” You know, the shorter cars that get you all excited in a parking garage because you think that spot is empty, but when you get to the spot the “gotcha car” is tucked neatly in that spot and you have to keep circling the garage looking for a parking spot. With the red and green light magic you don’t have to worry about being got.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the folks at Disney could create a green light and red light system for people? Being in the kid business, a red light, green light over a kid you are worried about would be nice. It would give us the extra encouragement we need to make sure that we are doing everything for that kid to be successful. I think we do that anyway, but a little nudge like a light over the kid’s head would be nice.
I worry about our teachers a lot this time of year. Wouldn’t it be nice if they each had a red light or green light over them so the rest of us knew it was time to jump in and give them some extra help? As much as we try to figure out how much help we need to give our staff and students, it is really difficult to know. So this year, I am going to work on making my default mode the assumption that it is okay to offer help first rather than just assume someone is okay.
I don’t know exactly how this looks yet, but when in doubt I am going to try and jump in and help. Maybe if we all do that 2022 will be as easy as finding a parking spot in a Disney parking garage.
Have a GREAT week!