Esteemed Colleagues,

On behalf of our leadership team, we wish you a happy, restful, and healthy Thanksgiving Day!

It goes without saying that this year’s Thanksgiving is particularly unique. Since March, when we  transitioned into a distance learning and a teleworking model, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our  nation has suffered an extraordinary loss of 250,000 people and over 12 million becoming infected. We  have seen an untold number of families in our Sweetwater Community affected, facing illness, hunger  and joblessness.

Despite these hardships, we are so proud and thankful that our staff, teachers and community have  evidenced that our better selves emerge in a crisis to support our students, colleagues, friends and  neighbors through the offering of a helping hand, albeit from proper social distance. We have come  together in ways we could have only imagined — to provide over two million meals to those in our  community in need, to problem solve the transition of our education system from brick and mortar to  virtual, and to support each other as staff impacted by the transitions COVID-19 has brought upon us.

Our students adjusted to a distance learning model and learning through computers and technology, and  all that entails.

Our classified staff adjusted to work in schedules and methods we could not have planned for, yet the  work persisted.

Our teachers adjusted to change up lesson plans and instruction to a digital platform from their known  practices to a new manner of delivering instruction and support.

Our coaches have followed state and county guidelines to provide opportunities for athletic conditioning  for over 700 students-athletes.

Our counselors adjusted to providing virtual supports to students impacted by this crisis.

Our administrators adjusted to engaging students, staff and parents virtually and reengineering school  safety and facilities in a global pandemic.

Throughout this year, the human spirit has persevered….The Sweetwater spirit has prevailed.

We are all going through an experience that will define our generation, and yet, through it all, we remain  thankful and grateful.

We are grateful for our families, colleagues, and friends.

We are grateful for our students who continue to learn and adapt through this pandemic.

We are grateful for our educators, collectively, who provide the framework that allows this learning to  occur.

We are grateful for our support staff who do everything from office work to preparing meals.  We are grateful for essential workers who keep food on the table.

We are grateful to our first responders in the medical field, be they doctors and nurses, or the custodians  who ensure facilities are sanitized.

We are grateful for the scientists advancing our understanding of this pandemic and the development of  vaccines that will lead our way out.

We are grateful for the opportunity to serve.

Thanksgiving gives us an opportunity to reflect upon the many blessings that we receive throughout the  year that sometimes go unperceived due to the chaos of the moment.

We are thankful for you. In that spirit, we ask you to stay safe, wear a mask, remain socially distant, and  limit your gatherings to those within your household so we can all return back to work together.

We wish you and your families a reflective, restful, and healthy Thanksgiving Day and thank you for all  that you do, day-in and day-out, to ensure we are serving our community to the greatest extent possible.

With Gratitude,

Nicholas Segura, Board President Board

Arturo Solis, Vice President

Paula Hall ,  Board Member

Kevin J. Pike, Board Member

Frank A. Tarantino, Board Member

Moisés G. Aguirre, Ed.D  , Superintendent