Chapter 7: Uncovering Hidden Opportunities

A crisis can be big or small. It can affect an individual, an entire community, or a neighborhood. It can reach across the globe, like the most recent pandemic, or remain within a nuclear family. Because a school community consists of students and adults, crisis is unavoidable. In fact, school leaders likely face dozens of crises each year, sometimes large-scale with far-reaching effects, sometimes smaller with less negative outcomes. In a training on the effects of crisis, I once heard a large-scale crisis was a capital C crisis. A worldwide pandemic, an extreme weather episode that compromised the structure of the school, or a school safety breach could all be Crisis, with a capital C. The effects are significant, long, and widespread. The event is severe and the ripple effects last for years, even decades. However, small crises happen to each of us throughout our lives. Health situations, breaks in relationships, changes in family structures are also crises, with a small c, that affect teachers and students nearly every day.