On Your Left

I will admit, I was late to the Avengers movie scene. I was not really into comic books growing up. Don't worry, I knew and loved the basics: Superman, Batman, and Spiderman. But the rest of them passed me by.

Fortunately, I am the Dad to two young boys who are very much into the series, and I have seen some of the movies, including the most recent Avengers End Game. As virtually a newcomer to the series, I spent the better part of the movie wondering how the "good guys" were going to beat Thanos and the "bad guys." This became less and less clear to me as the movie went on. It seemed as if there was no way for the Avengers to win.

(*Spoiler Alert - if you haven't seen the movie, and care about it, please stop reading*)

Near the end of the movie, and during one of the epic battle scenes, there is a break in the action while all our heroes and villains are catching their breath. Captain America is front and center, and we hear a radio crackle, and a muffled voice says:

"Cap, you listen to me?
Cap, it's Sam. Can you hear me?"

At that point, Captain America puts his hand up to his head, to try to hear better what is being said through the radio in his ear.

"On your left."

This was a call back to an earlier movie, The Winter Soldier. In the opening scene of that movie, Sam Wilson (later Falcon) is running and is passed three times by Steve Rogers (Captain America) during the run. Each time, Steve says, "On your left" while he passes him.

At that point in End Game, all the Avengers, literally, all of them began to arrive to help Captain America and our heroes defeat Thanos. It took every single one of them, and they did it together. We are all better together. And I will admit, I loved this movie!

Sometimes in education, we fall into the trap of closing our classroom or office doors, and essentially going at it by ourselves. Teaching and leadership can be very lonely places. We may be faced with challenges that seem to be ours and ours alone, and if we choose to address those problems alone, we may not be as successful.

With a focus of Visible Teaching and Learning for All, we are taking steps in St. Johnsbury to make our instruction more intentional, more accessible, more available to all students. We want to share our successes and learn from our missteps. We want all our Faculty & Staff to make our building a place that is safe, welcome, and inclusive for all our students and their families. We will do it together.

St. Johnsbury Faculty & Staff, you hear me?
St. Johnsbury Faculty & Staff, it's Dr. Ricca. Can you hear me?

On your left.

Photo courtesy of www.uniqueteachingresources.com