Monday, September 23, 2013

A Busy Week...A Busier Weekend!

I am usually an early adopter when it comes to all things related to technology. For some reason I did not download the new operating system for my iPhone, and I am really glad that I didn't. My Facebook news feed and Twitter timeline have been littered with angry comments, while I continue to be able to use my "old" phone without any trouble!

Honoring a Student: I was able to use my phone to take some pretty cool pictures last week in classrooms and at a few events. A few of my favorites came from Wednesday and Friday. On Wednesday night I had the honor to recognize freshman Marshall Winn for saving the life of a person who was drowning over the summer. He brought his immediate and extended family to our Board of Education meeting and was presented a plaque on behalf of the Board of Education and our entire school community for his efforts. Congratulations and thank you to Marshall for his poise, character, and efforts.

Friday Night Spirit: Friday was a beautiful night as the remnants of the Harvest Moon began to fill the sky, and our Wildcat football team took the field. Their play was nothing short of spectacular, especially considering that they were down a couple of key players due to injury. From my vantage point, I was able to enjoy everything that a Friday night football game brings including: the huge crowds, spirit-filled cheerleaders, an unbelievable half-time show provided by our Marching Band, and of course our mascot, the Wildcat! As the Wildcat (senior Neil Goodman) and I took a "selfie" on the sidelines, he told me that it was pretty hot inside that costume. I asked if he wanted to take a break and he said, "no way, there is too much cheering to do!" Awesome!

I purposely stood near the student section known as the "Wildcat Nation" because I wanted to hear their interaction with our football team, Marching Band, our cheerleaders, the opponent's cheerleaders, and their football team. I was very proud of our students (I would estimate about 500). They cheered loudly for our team, supported our cheerleaders, clapped for our Marching Band, made no comments to our opposition, and boo'd at a couple of "bad calls", which I can totally deal with. I hope we can sustain the size and behavior of the Nation for our other fall sports and continue this right into the winter sports season. I was on cloud nine to say the least. Nice work all around!

Racing for Respect: Unfortunately, I did miss the Race for Respect. This was the 15th Annual Race and the only one I have not been able to attend since I came to the District. My son was home for the first time from college, and I have a badly rolled ankle. I would like to thank Mr. Blake and all of our other organizers for putting another great event together. Even though it was rainy and cold, the turnout was great!  I hope to see everyone at our next community building event, the annual Culture Fair, that will take place in late winter.

Open Houses: We have a couple of Open Houses left this week (Camillus Middle School and West Genesee Middle School) that I am sure will be well attended and supported.

Newsletters Coming Soon...We will also have a paper version of The Communicator for fall mailed shortly (we send three per year) followed closely by a printed Capital Project version of The Communicator which we should have finished and ready for proofing by the end of the week (look for it in your mailboxes the first week of October).

Have a great week and I will post again soon.

Chris