I miss my kids.

The Kornerstone Krew. I miss Chris, Parker, Liz, Savannah, and Harlie-

I miss Green Bay. The Dragons of JDAL, I miss the Wizard, Iz-ak, and HalfSwag.

Opening circle.

Closing circle.

Learning and community are not the same without it.

That’s not to say anything against my current post, but something has to change.

I have to be a part of these kids lives in a way that I once knew.

I have to facilitate.

I have to plan with the kids.

The rubber band has snapped back. I’m seeing worksheets again. I’m hearing rumblings of kids getting points taken off for turning their head towards the back of the class.

The good news, and this I will be writing more about, is that we’re building again. My wife and I are once again a part of school/program design. Selfishly, a multi-age advisory is a must-have. It’s a non-negotiable. Sitting in a circle, getting better together, having student voice and choice as an essential school element; that’s the long view. That’s what will keep me in this.

What’s different though, I can’t step in for a year and leave.

Never again.

The students of Kornerstone School and John Dewey Academy of Learning will never know how much richer my life is because of them. The courage it takes to go on an adventure and join a new school in start-up in unlike anything else an adolescent learner can go through. To leave the familiar. To lead. To follow. To push. To listen.

I miss my kids. And yet, they are with me. They push me. They lead me. I am following them.

Can I listen?