Last Saturday I spent a delightful morning at Dream Lake Elementary participating as a judge at the Amazing Shake competition.  

The competition, which drew about two dozen students, included three rounds of activities: working the room, running the gauntlet, and a presidential-style debate for those who scored best in the first two rounds.  

The second round was my favorite. It required each student to work through Survivor-themed stations where a community judge would score the quality of their engagement.  

The performance of these young elementary age students was impressive across the board. And seeing the teachers, volunteers and parents who came out to make it happen warmed my heart. The soft skills these children are learning will serve them very well in life.  

Toward the end of the event, as I stood in the back watching the debate stage, my thoughts turned to the approaching local election. No doubt that diverse room held supporters of each and every candidate, along with various views on the charter amendments, and yet here they all were collaborating on an event benefiting the future of our community.  

You would not know this was possible, if you spend a lot of time reading Facebook posts. I have lost count of how many people have expressed concern to me about the nature of online engagement in Apopka. From online bullying and distortions to actual death threats, we have moved far beyond simply blocking or unfriending someone you don’t like.  

No one would say this is healthy or helpful, yet scores of people continue to consume the poison. Everyone thinks it is the other camp that is the real problem.  

As we turn the corner following Tuesday’s election, I know there are undoubtedly thousands of disappointed people around town — and more will join them after next month’s runoff. Whether it is the mayoral election, council races, or maybe a charter question, at least one probably did not fall your way. And regardless of who won, it is always impossible to solve every problem with an election.  

So in a lot of ways, we’re all in the same boat. We’re all Apopkans, and we have a choice in how we move forward from here.  

We can play the blame game, point fingers and be a keyboard warrior to try and destroy whoever got elected that we don’t like. Or we can make a new friend, volunteer, and support our local schools and their athletic teams—or something else to help build the community.  

The answer will look different for everyone, but I would respectfully suggest all of us can take the same first step: Spend more time in our community and less time online talking about it.