John Marshall was built for 1,800 students. It once served 1,100–1,500. Today it serves around 600. This isn’t about effort. It’s about math. You can’t starve a school and then blame it for being hungry.

Not because I chose this work—but because I was chosen. Remembering 12 year old Amiya Moses!

I didn’t plan to write this—but grief doesn’t ask for permission. I wrote about what the holidays have felt like since losing my mom, the guilt parents carry, and why choosing peace over performance is sometimes the most loving thing we can do for our kids. If this season feels heavy, you’re not alone.

What scared me wasn’t the trauma itself. It was how familiar the numbness had become. That’s when I realized numbness hadn’t protected us — it had settled in.

Inclusive teaching strategies are more than methods; they are a mindset - a commitment to honor the unique strengths and challenges of each learner.

As I was writing about arts in education, numbness, and regulation, this video dropped and reminded me of what schools too often forget: creativity isn’t an accessory—it’s a lifeline. This holiday performance isn’t just music. It’s regulation, belonging, and healing in harmony. Because sometimes, the way out has a beat.

As Jon Burkett, “The Crime Insider,” WTVR CBS 6, writes: “This book tells the part of the story people don’t see—but need to.”

By Kevin A. Starlings