Happy Teacher Appreciation Day. First and foremost, for those of you who are educators, thank you for everything you do for students every single day. Although I have never been a classroom teacher, I had the privilege of collaborating with inspiring educators across the country during my eight-year tenure at The George Lucas Educational Foundation (known to the world as Edutopia), and I can tell you that what you all do is nothing short of a miracle.

April has arrived, and with it comes one of the fastest vaccine roll-outs in U.S. history. In the last month, I’ve witnessed educators around the country sharing the exact moment when they were vaccinated on social media, while tears of joy and relief trickle down many of their faces. It’s bittersweet for me.

Many of you know that I love to kayak. If there’s a week that I’m not on the water, I tend to feel uninspired and stuck in the doldrums of life. I get this “fish out of water” feeling from my father who grew up sailing the San Francisco Bay, and he got that feeling from his father who skippered some of the biggest ships into the Bay.

2021. That feels so good to say. I don’t know about you, but Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem, "The Hill We Climb" has stuck with me. It's made me reflect on the challenges we face as a nation, as well as in education.

As I write this, COVID-19 cases are surging across the US; it’s triggering for me to put it mildly. I never thought I’d be saying that I am thankful to have been able to be with my father as he passed from this deadly virus, but I am. My heart goes out to the thousands of people who will not have that opportunity.

Without a doubt, October is a scary month. We’re headed into winter and the holiday season with the most uncertainty many of us have ever been faced with before. Public education, specifically, is under siege and may be at its breaking point.

I’m excited to introduce our first-ever monthly newsletter, packed full of marketing and education resources to help you build awareness, engagement, and revenue. Let’s be real, though-- we all get way too many newsletters that don’t consistently deliver value. To make sure that doesn’t happen, we’ll continue to adjust our newsletter to ensure it’s as helpful as possible to you. Reach out to me directly via email or Twitter with any thoughts you have.