Statement from SAANYS Executive Director Kevin Casey Regarding Recent Events

“What challenging times we are in. Amid the upheaval of a pandemic, we have all been stopped in our tracks to reflect on the heart and soul of America in addition to its physical health.

As educators, these reflections run deep as we are charged with teaching our young citizens more than academics but also respect for human rights, justice, and open-mindedness; yet we witness first-hand the inequities and obstacles faced by so many of our students and families.

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us many years ago, ‘Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.’ Educators are in a unique position to influence the moral development of young people; those people who will soon define us, and who we hope will advance us as a nation. These past weeks have shown us that education is so much more than data and grades, but a charge to continue to purposefully seek to make ourselves better as individuals and to serve as role models for the change we hope to see.”