The news these days is often depressing at worst and frustrating at best. It’s easy to get caught up in the spin cycle and let it get us down. Never fear… The News Blender has you covered. Once a week, we feature Something Good and, in return, all you have to do is tell us something good that has happened to you this week, something you are thankful for, a joke, a cute animal story, an inspiring tale of heroics, a Random Act of Kindness… SOMETHING good.
Today’s Something Good is a little humor to help kick off a school year that’s bound to be a little chaotic and difficult.
Principal Skyler Rodolph of Ninety-One School in Oregon has been leading his staff and students through distance learning with humor. His YouTube channel has been a source of laughter and learning as he’s posted videos of joke battles, a Math on the Farm series in which he poses math problems for his Kindergarten through 8th grade students, and song parodies during the Covid19 pandemic.
Principal Rodolph says he isn’t a particularly confident or strong singer and has no vocal or stage experience, but he is a proponent of “fake it til you make it”, according to Canby Now Podcast. After seeing Hamilton in July, King George’s “You’ll Be Back” has been stuck in his head and, in spite of trying to convince himself that he was too busy, he wrote his own lyrics and plowed ahead with a fun and royally spectacular parody to help cheer his students as they face more distance learning.
In costume, in the spotlight on the school’s stage, Sklyer’s first verse of “You’ll Be Back… To School” acknowledged how difficult the situation is: “You say you dislike the learning that we put you all through in May. You cried, ‘Don’t make us do that again in the fall or we just might die.’ I know you’re sad. We worked all summer trying to meet the governor’s guidelines. Now she’s changing what we had. It’s OK; despite all the changes, we have a plan.”
The final verse gave kids and parents hope for the future. “You’ll be back, not like before. You’ll have to wear a mask walking through the door. Six feet apart. Wash your hands. Those are just some of our safety plans. So get online. Join a Zoom. You’ll get used to your new classroom. And when push comes to shove, we’ll do whatever it takes to teach you, because you’re the ones we love.”
Principal Rodolph told the Canby Now Podcast that sharing joy and laughter is needed during these difficult times. “It is a way I can share a piece of who I am with my community, ” he said. ” As an educator, I am in the people business, the kid business. I miss our staff, I miss our students, and I miss our families. I feel a bit more connected this way.”
Laughter is definitely Something Good and so is Principal Rodolph and his amazing Hamilton parody. Now it’s your turn… tell me something good!
