When a G.O.A.T. Is Not A Goat

How about that Weather? How many times have you heard that?  Being born and raised in Syracuse, I am certainly used to the type of weather that we can get. Being a superintendent adds another dimension however. I have closed schools for a variety of reasons for the past fourteen years. I have only closed school due to temperature twice in my career.  

The decision to close school due to temperature is not a shot in the dark. We generally use -6 regular temperature and -25 windchill as benchmarks to make the decision to delay or close. These recommended temperatures come from a very useful guiding document published by the New York Statewide School Health Services Center (http://www.schoolhealthservicesny.com/a-zindex.cfm?subpage=29).  I have used it for years and it proved helpful again.  

There are going to be plenty of very cold days coming up when we WILL have school, so make sure to dress your children for the conditions!

When a G.O.A.T. is not a Goat: Through my travels I always pick up new lingo from the students. Over break I kept hearing about goats. I even saw a shirt with a picture of a goat on it. It was pretty common to hear about goats and see goats when I was superintendent in the southern tier, but the only goats that I see or hear about here have been at the fair.

I finally asked a student wearing a goat shirt if he was wearing it because of a cool new movie, singer, rapper, or video game. He looked at me perplexed and said, "I am the Greatest of ALL Time, you know…G.O.A.T!".  Got it!  I was standing next to the greatest of all time, not a kid wearing a goat shirt. I am always learning. I should have asked for his autograph!

Upcoming Events: I am really excited for the upcoming weeks. Boys and girls hockey (our girls have been the backbone of the Skaneateles combined girls hockey team) are playing really well; boys and girls basketball are promising; and I now understand wrestling better, so I am not clueless when I attend a meet. Swimmers show me how it is done, and I will also see how real runners, jumpers, and vaulters run, vault, and jump!  Our musicians are also getting into mid-year form, and I plan to start visiting the high school musical rehearsals. All good stuff!

The annual Dialogue with the Superintendent is on Wednesday, January 15 in the high school large group instruction room. Please note that the time has been changed to 6:00 p.m. so we can spend the first hour talking about all kinds of things. Then the second hour will be dedicated to talking about the Common Core Learning Standards implementation, assessments, and data collection.  Hope to see you there.

Enjoy the week and I hope to see you at one of our events!

Chris