Unwritten

It's here. The new school year has begun. The faculty/staff of Needham Public Schools gathered together at Newman School this morning for our annual district meeting. We listened to lots of speeches and lots of welcomes. Most memorable was the photo slideshow Needham High School students put together for us. They put the slideshow to the song "Unwritten" by, Natasha Bedingfield.
I wanted to share the lyrics of this song because they say so much about the children I'm about to meet, and the time we will spend together.

I am unwritten,
Can't read my mind
I'm undefined
I'm just beginning
The pen's in my hand
Ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

I break tradition
Sometimes my tries
are outside the lines
We've been conditioned
To not make mistakes
But I can't live that way

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

The rest is still unwritten.


I look forward to guiding your children along their third grade journey as their books become "written". I hope to help them live with arms wide open, reaching for things in the distance, and learn in a place where it's okay to go outside the lines. Thank you for sharing them with me.