Monday, September 10, 2012

A Great Opening Week!

Thank you for a great opening week! As with the beginning of any school year, we are working out some of the kinks that arise. However, we are heading into week two with many things to be thankful for, and I am looking forward to meeting all of our new Kindergarten students. (To view a quick video slide show of the first few days, click here.)

Weekend Activities:
Over the weekend I had an opportunity to watch a good old fashioned football game on our grass field in the rain and wind. While we came up just short against a very competitive Fayetteville-Manlius squad, I was very happy to see so many of our Modified athletes on hand to thank the community for raising enough money to run a full slate of modified athletic events this year. I think that the parents appreciated their efforts, especially in the downpour that drenched us all as the game began!

I was then able to watch the Marching Band conduct final preparations for their competition that took place on Saturday evening at East Syracuse Minoa. The Wildcats finished in first place with a score of 80.2 which is a great first effort. Congratulations.

I then had to quickly jump into a suit and head out to Skaneateles to be part of a fundraising event for an organization called Todd's Fund. Todd's Fund has given thousands of dollars to families in need within our own school District. I would mention all of those on the Board, but I know that they would much rather continue providing opportunities to needy families and children in Central New York than to be recognized. Please accept my thanks for helping our families and students.

Recess and the Press:
Also this weekend an article ran in our local newspaper about a neighboring school removing recess from elementary students schedules this year. Click here to read the article.  I received many positive comments about the importance that we place on healthy choices and physical activity, and I am very appreciative of those who took the time to comment. I did want to address quickly how my comments made their way into the article, in case any readers thought that we were taking an opportunity to weigh in against another school.

I had received a questionnaire from a reporter about recess in general. It asked do we have recess, if so how frequently, do I feel that recess is important, etc...  Some of my responses were used in the article. I want to make it clear, however, that while I am very much in support of recess for our children, the questions were not presented to me in a way that would have lead me to believe that the answers would be used as a contrast to a school that is choosing not to include recess for children.

It is important that I mention that because at the end of the day, ALL of us are trying to help children. Differences in how we are trying to accomplish that goal are respected within our professional circles. Had I known that the questions I was given would be used in the way they were, I would have probably chosen not to comment or I would have used this space to speak about our inclusion of recess.

I am looking forward to another great week getting to know new students, working out problems that occurred the first few days, and preparing for Open Houses.

Enjoy your week as well-

Chris