For the next 15 months of our lives, the idea of embracing change is something that everyone is going to have to become comfortable with.  The school is about to undergo as radical a change as it ever has seen since ground was broken in the 1960s.  There will be very large machinery and strange people on the grounds of the high school wearing lots and lots of hard hats.  The idea of using vocabulary such as excavation, foundation, girders and pneumatic drills is completely uncommon for high schools and may be topics or tools you’re not familiar with.  But, over the next 15 months, you’ll probably see and hear people using this vocabulary often because they are the basis for the facelift that CHS will be undergoing.

For the current seniors and juniors, everyone feels your pain and understands that what you are about to go through is not fair.  Seniors, the parking situation will not be perfect for the last month of being at CHS.  The “Golden Class” of CHS, the current juniors, would have never envisioned being the people who would deal with all of this construction as seniors, expecting to be celebrated more than inconvenienced.  However, some equipment and building materials may clutter your special year, but they will never take away from the sheen of the “Golden Class.”

Instead of grumbling how awful things are, or will be, and how it is not fair that you have to deal with all the change that will occur next year, look at the idea that change is needed now more than ever.  This school has been relatively similar for over 50 years and it is time for an update and it should allow everyone to bond together to get through it next year.  Embracing change in this realm is not only about being ready for change, but wanting change and every member of this school district, past and present, wants things to be better.

Although many people would rather run from the idea of major adjustments, change is something that we can rarely predict and nobody can stop.  If you choose to focus on the negative, that is all that you will see.  The tarps in the school and the strange people that are around will bother you to no end.  However, if you go into a new situation with a mindset like this, you’ll never be able to see all the benefits procured by this change.  The mood and outlook of the entire school will be welcoming and positive and everyone will celebrate every little success that we encounter together.

Yes, it is very hard for most of us to “go with the flow” of things.  However, in life, you have to be open to change in order to grow and adjust as an adult.  The multi-week PARCC testing has not been wonderful to most students, but instead of complaining about it, look at the fact that the EOY portion of that testing is upon us and know that summer is just weeks away.  Next year, in the cold days of January and February when we are tired of moving classrooms or losing another part of the building for a day or week or month due to new construction, look at it as another day closer to being done.  Don’t run from the change, but rather embrace it.

Ultimately, embracing change means to take advantage of the opportunity.  Use it to develop, grow and gain experiences.  After next year of chaotic renovation, our high school will be brand new with renovated classrooms, an updated auditorium and three new gyms.  Our community and students will benefit from it all.  Change always comes with positives and negatives; it opens doors, but takes you out of your comfort zone.  What might seem frightening and annoying at first is what you need to push you out of your comfort zone.  But, this is where we, as human beings, grow, develop and gain new experiences.

Remember in the next 15 months that we will all grow and develop and gain new experiences together.  They may not be comfortable or fun, but the bond we forge together as we embrace change will say a lot more about us as a community than anything else