I am a former school superintendent in a swing county, in a swing state who devoted my career to supporting students, families, and staff with integrity and empathy. But in the final years of my tenure, I found myself in the center of a political firestorm, where civil boundaries seemed to vanish and leadership meant withstanding a wave of verbal, digital, and deeply personal attacks.
What triggered the most intense backlash? Informing the school community about public health guidance. Supporting inclusive school environments. Affirming the connection between intellectual freedom and access to books in school libraries. Simple, professional decisions.
Each step brought criticism鈥攆rom sarcastic emails to angry phone calls to personal attacks on social media to aggressive comments at public board meetings. One parent group even tried to pressure the district attorney to bring child abuse charges against me for requiring students to wear masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Throughout, I remained committed to listening, responding respectfully, and modeling civil discourse. Over time, I developed the ability鈥攕o vital to being an education leader鈥攖o embrace conflict with an open heart and an open mind. But this skill set was no match for the emotional toll as vitriol increasingly replaced dialogue.
Ultimately, I made the difficult decision to retire early to be more fully present for my family. Still, I remain committed to contributing to public education and supporting those leaders who continue this important work during a time of unprecedented polarization.
What I never got the chance to respond to was one of the most common phrases hurled at me during this time: 鈥淵ou鈥檙e woke.鈥� It was a term often thrown my way at the end of an angry phone call or shouted at me during public comment at board meetings.
Until recently, I hadn鈥檛 taken the time to reflect on that word鈥攚here it comes from, what it once meant, and what it has come to represent. But I鈥檓 a former Latin teacher and I have always loved language, its roots, and its evolution.
鈥淲oke鈥� originates in African American Vernacular English, dating back as early as the 1930s to describe awareness of racial injustice and a heightened sense of social consciousness. In recent decades, it has evolved to signify a broader alertness to inequality and oppression.
The term also reminds me of a song鈥攐ne that speaks to both awareness and service. In July 1985, during the Live Aid concert that raised awareness and funding for famine relief in Africa, U2 performed their song 鈥淏ad.鈥� that their home city of Dublin has its good and its bad鈥攁nd how all communities contain both. The refrain echoed: 鈥淚鈥檓 wide awake 鈥� I鈥檓 not sleeping.鈥� That鈥檚 how I felt as a school leader: alert, conscious of what our students needed, and determined to face challenges head-on.
In recent years, however, the term has been hijacked鈥攕tripped of its dignity and weaponized by some on the far right as a catch-all insult for progressivism, inclusivity, and those (including 糖心动漫vlog) who believe in equity.
In its current usage, woke has become a four-letter word with a hard 鈥渒鈥� sound鈥攎ore interjection than descriptor. Like a verbal grenade, it鈥檚 often launched without thought, designed not to invite conversation but to end it.
So here is my reply to all the people who called my school leadership 鈥渢oo woke,鈥� one that I first started drafting as a superintendent but never delivered at a podium or in a phone call:
Yes, I am awake. I am not asleep at the wheel.
Superintendents and all 糖心动漫vlog have a duty to be aware鈥攖o be informed and vigilant so that we can serve students, families, and staff to the best of our ability.
The term 鈥渨oke鈥� should never have become a weapon. And yet it has鈥攑art of a broader trend of contempt in civic life. For 糖心动漫vlog and school leaders, this contempt shows up in sarcastic attacks, hostile tones, and digital cruelty鈥攎emes, soundbites, and public shaming. It鈥檚 the antithesis of collaboration and an enemy of the grace-driven leadership our schools require.
But here鈥檚 what I learned in my time as a superintendent: Responding to contempt with equal contempt accomplishes nothing. The antidote is clear, firm, values-based communication rooted in empathy and resilience. In every interaction, we must continue to uphold what 糖心动漫vlog know best: the power of kindness, the value of dialogue, and the importance of showing up for all students.
As we move forward in this polarized climate, I encourage education leaders to remain 鈥渨ide awake鈥濃�攏ot politically postured but morally grounded. Be awake to the needs of marginalized students. Be awake to the rising toll of mental health challenges. Be awake to misinformation, historical erasure, and cultural attacks that undermine public education.
Above all, be awake to the truth that grace is not weakness. It is strength.
I鈥檒l close with a stanza from a poem I wrote as a high school student, which I rediscovered decades later and once read to close out a particularly contentious school board meeting:
We move together.
In love for each other.
No matter what is in front of us.
We will seek trust 鈥� forever.
Let that be the spirit in which we lead. Let that be what 鈥渁wake鈥� truly means.
