JumpStart National Look-Alike Day (4/20/26)

QUOTE:  "We often repeat what we don't repair." (Christine Langley-Obaugh)

MESSAGE:  Today is the 27th anniversary of the Columbine School shooting. I started teaching that fall amid panic and new layers of security.  It was the first year of wearing school IDs, and a new trajectory of heightened security measures for schools.  Thank goodness I was hired into a small junior high transitioning into a true Middle School!  I became part of Team 7-White, and my colleagues were fantastic veteran teachers; I don’t think I’d be here today without the community and support they provided.

Big events that carry big emotions—whether national tragedies like Columbine, 9/11, or COVID, or local incidents such as the death of a student or school violence—require meaningful emotional processing in their aftermath.I’ve heard too many stories and witnessed too many schools where the goal was to ‘get back to normal ASAP’.  First of all, the old ‘normal’ is gone, replaced by a new one.  Second, there is no As Soon As Possible.  It’s more like Acknowledge, Self-Regulate, Apologize, and Partner.

Repair is the work of restoring connection after harm—big or small. It is not about perfection; it’s about responsibility, regulation, and reconnection. Imagine a common, all-school scenario: During passing period, a teacher publicly snaps at a student for being out of line. The tone is sharp. The student shuts down. Peers notice. The moment lingers. What happens next is where repair begins.

Acknowledge
Name what happened without minimizing or ignoring it.
“I want to talk about what happened earlier in the hallway.”
Acknowledgment signals awareness—it tells the student, I saw it too, and it matters.

Self-Regulate
Before stepping into the conversation, the adult pauses. A few breaths, a moment of reflection, a reset. Repair cannot come from escalation. Regulation is what allows us to respond instead of react.

Apologize
Take responsibility—clearly and without blame.
“I raised my voice, and that wasn’t okay. You didn’t deserve that.”
Notice what’s not included: “but you were…” or “if you hadn’t…” A true apology is not conditional.

Partner
Reconnection is the goal. Invite the student back into relationship.
“You matter to me, and I want us to be okay. How did that feel for you?”
Or simply: “Let’s reset. I’m here for you.”

Repair, at its best, is relational courage. It models for students that mistakes don’t define us—how we respond to them does.

In schools, we often emphasize instruction, curriculum, and outcomes. But the hidden curriculum—the one students carry with them long after they leave—is how adults handle conflict, accountability, and care. When we repair, we teach students that relationships can withstand tension, that harm can be addressed, and that being whole doesn’t mean never breaking—it means knowing how to come back together.

A common demoninator in all the positions I’ve held in eductation, through all the ups and downs, is that ASAP may be one of the most powerful leadership moves we can make.

DAD JOKE:  A man has collapsed on the ferris wheel at the local fair.  Paramedics on site way he's coming around.