ALL OF US
Together CLASS OF
Dear Students, Whether this was your final year of high school, your last year of elementary school, or anywhere in-between, I hope you are wrapping up a successful school year and that you are excited to celebrate summer and all that comes next. As students and as people, you have been through a lot over the past two and a half years. I know that your teachers and principals worked hard to make this school year an exciting return from many months of distance learning. I hope you enjoyed getting back to friends, group projects, specials classes, and after school activities. I also want you to know how proud I—and your community—have been of how you adapted so quickly to new ways of doing things—new COVID testing protocols, new pickup and drop-off procedures, new ways of interacting with your teachers and classmates. But you did it. I hope you will take a moment to feel proud of your accomplishments too. I also hope you will take some time to thank the people around you who supported you through distance learning and then with your return to school. One thing we know from our experience throughout this pandemic is the importance of working together as a community. As Mayor of Washington, DC, I feel incredibly proud of how our city rose to meet this once in a lifetime challenge. At every stage of the pandemic, Washingtonians of every age, and across all eight wards, have worked together to keep each other safe. Now, as you prepare for summer, my call to action to each of you is to pick an issue or problem you care about and then find other people in our community who want to help you create a solution. There is no issue too big or too small for you to care about. You might want to join the growing number of Americans nationwide who are demanding solutions to gun violence. In fact, you might already have an idea for how we can make our community safer and stronger. You might have heard about the campaign being led by professional women’s sports teams in DC to distribute free sports bras to girls who need them, and you might have your own idea for how we can help and encourage more girls to play sports. Maybe every day on your walk to school you notice a part of the sidewalk on your street that needs to be fixed and you want to do something about it. Maybe you’re just about to turn 18 and you’re frustrated about not having any United States senators to vote for and now you
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