As program director I’m usually here somewhere on campus and aware of something having to do with the spinning-wheel-world of community education. It’s a lifestyle job. When not actively working on it, I’m thinking about it, and very often dreaming about it. My LCE life now has me working in at least one of the schools six days a week… and most of those days from 9:00 am until the equivalent number in the pm. This is partly because I see this work as a vocation more than a job. My colleague suggests my long hours have to do with some kind of trauma response. I’ll consider that novel theory as a possibility.In any case I try to have my physical hand on the spiritual pulse of the program and stay aware and alert to the direction it needs to progress. I often anthropomorphize the program and picture it as a being that I serve, feed and keep satisfied to the point that the program is healthy enough to turn and take care of staff and the community. You (dear reader) could say that the “program” and I have a relationship. Between you and me I could argue that the program demands more of me than I demand back from her/him/it….but that’s between me and LCE as, “She/He.”
On the other side of all of this mystical embodiment and anthropomorphization of communal intelligence – the less philosophical, more physical, and more beautiful side – is the very real gift and presence of the many other people that actually feed and also care for “the program”….people that I sometimes see, and most often briefly, or with a passing hello in the hallway. Perhaps the program really is a great divine goddess of intellect and beauty (it is to me!), but it is also unquestionably a program made by and for all of the people who show up and partake that make manifest the living body of the program.
This afternoon I stopped to speak with one of our LCE music instructors as she was entering Lexington High School. She will remain unnamed here so as not to embarrass. This instructor has been with LCE longer than I have, and I have been here since 2008. We have seen a lot of things change over that amount of time. When I started working here my children were three and five. Her children were equally as young. Of course we were both nearly 20 years younger as well. We were here then, and since, and over an often bumpy road from there…here we are still. Happily and better off for the bumps.
The grey in her hair was filled with light as we spoke about my “Starbucks Thanksgiving Blend” coffee that I was drinking black and we joked about how at this age we have become sweet enough to not need sugar. We talked and laughed together as we have not done nearly enough over 19 years. As we talked I thought to myself of some of the hard times she and I respectfully have been through at a distance in our personal lives over the years, and how she has cared for this program, sometimes by complaining about things needing to be changed, but always by serving it with her intelligence and care for her students. And ALWAYS by showing up, even when it hasn’t been easy…and even on crutches…and even when it hasn’t been required…such as at each of our student music recitals. And I was quietly overwhelmed by a feeling of being grateful for her…and I felt that I wanted to invite her to Thanksgiving dinner. I felt grateful for her consistent presence and teaching. And as we parted ways, I looked and saw another teacher who has been with us for less than a year walking up to the building with the speed and ease of youth, the way we used to do. And I was thankful for her too, and suddenly wished that I had a table long enough and resources large enough to invite everyone who teaches and works at Lexington Community Education for Thanksgiving. What a happy holiday it would be…with the best discussions and the best music and food and the best of blessings with friends both old and new, tried and true. I wondered if the season was the reason for my realization of gratitude or if the realization was the reason for the season. Maybe it was the Thanksgiving coffee blend and lack of sleep. No matter really. The gratitude was good and real and lasting.
As program director I can sometimes get lost in my larger vision of something that’s hard to explain. That doesn’t mean that my “larger” vision is larger than anyone else’s. Sure, I know more about the nitty-gritty of things but that’s more sight based than visionary. Each of our teachers, staff, and students have their own larger vision of this program and their place in it. Sometimes things get so hurried and busy and we see people walk by in a blur. Today, as I drank my Thanksgiving Blend coffee with my longtime colleague and friend I was thankful for the gift of her presence. Thankful for all of it. I extend that feeling of gratitude and Thanksgiving to you, dear reader, and to all of my office staff and teaching staff and students and parents and families, past and present…and future, too. Thank you for your contributions and participation in this wonderful community education experiment and experience! Your presence is the best of holiday presents.
Happy Thanksgiving to each and all,
Craig Hall
Director, Lexington Community Education
