Even some of us who choose to view the world through more optimistic prisms wondered a bit about the staying power of Black Lives Matter. Would it be bigger on rhetoric than execution, where productive change caves amid the roar?

Happily, some young people in our corner of the world espousing the Black Lives Matter movement aren't going away. They've been heard already and have no plans of that changing, honoring what we learn in the Book of James:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.　Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

Many of their names have been on the sports page before. Now they've graduated to other endeavors, perhaps imparting the unifying powers of sport upon greater undertakings.

And they're doing so in the unlikeliest of places — the comfortable colony of East Lyme — known for its dearth of diversity.

In recent weeks, East Lyme For Black Lives Matter members have addressed the school board about changes to the district's curriculum, diversity training for teachers to better help them address issues of racism, a review of a recruitment plan for hiring teachers of color and a Diversity Committee consisting of staff, students and parents.

That's the foundation for productive change. Except it's not happening at the rate of speed they'd like. They've been heard. Now comes the work, which becomes even harder in the perils of a pandemic.

"Opening our schools is priority number one right now," superintendent Jeff Newton wrote Wednesday in an email. "We will continue to work on equity and inclusion efforts once our school year begins."

Is that enough?

"The lack of action, urgency, and communication from Mr. Newton and the Board of Education in regard to the Black Lives Matter movement is disappointing," wrote Serena Valentin, an East Lyme graduate and member of the track team who became a Dean's List student at Western Connecticut. "I am hopeful because of the ambitious and supportive response from many teachers and Board of Education members, but actions speak louder than words. Building-level support is a great foundation, but equity/anti-racism training for teachers is our top priority and we will continue to push for that until there is a definitive plan."

From member Nickie Padilla: "The general sentiment is that we need to re-open schools first and THEN maybe, somehow fit in addressing racism. But addressing racism has been pushed aside and pushed aside for years, only resurfacing in response to a crisis. Yet, BIPOC (Black, indigenous, people of color) experience racism constantly and the change is slow and painful.  When will we make this a priority? After the next crisis? The time is now. The time has always been now."

"We don't want to make this adversarial," said Ben Ostrowski, an East Lyme alum and three-sport athlete who has since graduated from Brown University and is working toward a PhD at Carnegie Mellon. "But the changes we are looking for are very important."

This much we know: The work required to re-open our schools in our new abnormal is staggering. Perhaps the criticism here is too harsh, given that kids and parents have thousands of questions of what school will look like when there's no time to dress rehearse.

Still, there's no hiding behind the pandemic either. This is where Ostrowski, Valentin and Padilla need to keep honoring the Book of James by conveying the concept of perseverance. Ostrowski is correct: This needn't be adversarial. It shouldn't be. It can't be. It needs to be — and a thousand pardons here for educationspeak — collaborative. And the same applies to other school systems as well.

Much respect to school officials in and out of East Lyme. Can't be easy. Soon, though, your curriculum needs to change. Many things need to change to reflect the BLM movement. We are all worthy of telling our stories and having them heard.

So to Ben, Nickie and Serena: "Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro