A Culture of Care

In reading our COVID Operating Plan, the Mountain Academy Pandemic Response Plan, or other documents outlining modified operations during COVID, you’ve seen reference to “culture of care”. I think this captures an important guiding concept that will support each one of us individually and our community as we build new habits and implement new practices through the pandemic.

Community captures so many overlapping groups — the immediate people we live with, the campus and/or team we work most directly with, our student cohorts, all of TSS, Jackson, the Tetons…the circles get wider and wider. We know that part of community responsibility is personal responsibility. It’s what being a good team member is…how public health works…and an outcome of effective place-based education.

As our modified in-person student volume increases, we will have more face-to-face interactions. I imagine many are looking forward to less Zoom and a little more in-person AND we must make sure we do this in a manner that protects our community’s health and safety. It is as much about a general culture of care as it is about strong protocols.

This culture of care to protect both the physical and social/emotional health and safety of our community requires new habits.

Physical

By now all of us know the physical steps that protect both ourselves and each other — wear a mask, wash your hands, clean high touch areas, etc. It’s not about lack of knowledge but it is about consistency. If you see me not wearing my mask when I should, give me a friendly reminder. It’s likely not intentional though it is essential. Let’s have each other’s backs and normalize friendly reminders for masks or all the other new physical habits we need to practice consistently — physical distance, cleaning, or others. By watching out for each other in a supportive way, we are caring for our community.

Social-Emotional

In the spring, we adjusted to seeing our community members more often through a screen than in person. We now are adjusting to seeing our TSS community members in person…but with a mask covering half of their face. It is weird AND it is important. We’re engaging with people without all the information our species has evolved to collect and process — facial expressions. As part of our culture of care, let’s give people the benefit of the doubt a little more often. Without seeing people’s facial expressions, let’s check in on people a little more explicitly. With intention, I’m confident our skills creating community at TSS will translate to our current reality — whether modified in-person, hybrid, or virtual. For anyone who participated in the outstanding celebration of service for our summer Americorps members on Wednesday, you saw a connected community can be formed even for those who have never met in person (kudos to Naomi, Kendall, and Wyatt!!). You are not alone. We are not alone. Let’s help people feel that way as part of our culture of care.

Lastly, while not connected to the above, I would be remiss to not recognize this week is the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote (specifically White women, it wasn’t until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 where the right to vote for women of color was fully realized). Voting is a foundation to our democracy and to realizing the ideals we have for our community. Two resources to check out:

1. TSS Murie Committee Chair and 9th Circuit Federal Judge Margaret McKeown launched a virtual cookbook yesterday in recognition of 100 years of the right to vote for women. According to Margaret, “cookbooks have deep roots in the movement. To gain support, the suffragists published at least a half dozen cookbooks leading up to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.” Find the cookbook here with recipe contributions by Mardy Murie, Hilary Clinton, Justice Ginsburg, and Justice Sotomayor.
2. If you didn’t see it live last week, please take the time to watch the 2020 Murie Spirit of Conservation awardee Bob Stanton speak to “the National Parks: Lessons in Environmental Quality, Diversity and Justice” and the Murie Rising Leader, Lia Cheek. In the talk, Bob speaks powerfully to our challenges now, the 27 amendments of the Constitution, and our country’s arc towards a more perfect union.