FARMINGTON NM—Teachers at McKinley Elementary school were surprised and puzzled last week when principal Moira Dailey [62] called an emergency stand-up staff meeting after school to announce that there would be no more counting down the days until summer break. With only two weeks left in the school year, most teachers throughout the district began counting down the days two weeks ago and many students come to school eager to put another sticker on the classroom chart or take a link off the chain hanging from the bulletin board. Counting down the days to major holidays and other special events is a long-held tradition in elementary schools and has been for decades.
Ms. Dailey had her reasons for the edict, cautioning the teachers that many of the students don’t have much to look forward to in the summer and counting down the days just increases their anxiety and sadness about those long summer months without the structure of school, regular lunches every day, and time with their friends and teachers (who are often more attentive than parents). “Students have felt safe with you all year, and for some it is very hard to think about leaving your classroom environment.”
Ms. Dailey will allow teachers to continue to announce the number of days the students have been in school, which as of Monday is 158. A fifth grade teacher who wished to remain unnamed asked if she is allowed to tell her students how many total days are in the school year, “That way they can do the math and figure it out.” Kindergarten teacher, Renee DeBellis [28] pointed out, “My students can’t do that math, besides, they ask every day how long until they are first-graders, what am I supposed to tell them?” Second grade teacher Heather Banks [31] added, “And what happens on the last day of school when we have them clean out their desks? They will have had no time to emotionally prepare, it will all be over, suddenly over. Won’t that be sad and cause anxiety?”
Ms. Dailey, who retires this year, brushed aside the teachers’ concerns with, “Tell them to ask their parents, that way the parents can determine the least harmful way to break the news to their child that school is over.” One teacher, who will be moving to a different district at the end of this school year, had the courage to ask what others didn’t dare, “You are counting down the days until your retirement, how is that any different?” Ms. Dailey explained that it is very different, “I am not coming back!” The general consensus among the teachers is, “Hallelujah.” And because Ms. Dailey is leaving, most teachers are handling the count down issue with a “Don’t ask, don’t tell” attitude. Said one teacher, “If she asks about our classroom chart, I will tell her that we are counting down the days until her retirement.”