Author is Fascinating: No, the title is not about me. I wish. Last week our middle and high school students had a chance to meet and interact with Ben Mikaelson, the author of the book
"Petey". This novel was the basis for the community reading book project led by high school English teacher, Keith Newvine.
Mr. Mikaelson also held a community meet and greet on Friday night at Camillus Middle School. I was trying to get to that event, as well as the boys home senior night hockey game, and the high school musical all within the same three hours on Friday. So I rolled into Camillus Middle School expecting to listen for a few minutes and then hit the road. Ben had SO many cool stories and experiences from his life that I found myself locked into the conversation along with a healthy group of parents who were also there. We were truly fortunate to have Ben come to town, and I am hoping that we might be able to get him again sometime.
The Musical is Impressive: Back in the car and on to the high school I went for
Guys and Dolls. The sets and costumes for the show were very memorable. I was also impressed with the acting and singing especially considering all of the snow days we used that took away precious practice time. The senior talent will be missed, but I feel special that I have had the opportunity to watch them perform on our stage. Thank you to all who made the show happen and congratulations on a job well done!
Senior Hockey Players are Honored: Back in the car again and off to the boys hockey game. "Senior night". What a fine group of young men who had another win to cap off a perfect regular season. Well supported by our community as well. It is common to see students from kindergarten right through adults at the games, and I am really happy that they are such good role models. Congratulations on a great regular season.
Girls Hockey is Epic: On Saturday an epic girls hockey game took place up north for the NYS Championship. If you follow me on twitter, you saw about two dozen tweets about the Skaneateles Girls Hockey team. You should know and be proud that eleven of our lady wildcats are on this combined team, as well as some girls from other surrounding schools. Our students played key roles in the success of the team. The girls played Potsdam to a 2-2 tie through regulation. Four overtimes later, the score was still tied and by rule that awarded both teams as co-New York State Champions. Good stuff! There is no reason to think that they won't be back in the championship game next year! Congratulations!
Strategic Planning Fires us Up: I am glad that the weekend was so eventful because I was still fired up, in a positive way, from the Strategic Planning session we had held on Thursday. This process is very powerful and produces the guiding document that the District uses for the upcoming school year. I would like to thank the parents, students, teachers, administrators, and Board of Education members who participated. We will place our updated strategic plan and focus areas on our website as soon as it is formatted and updated.
Talking Prom Already: If you wonder why your neighbor's garage door has balloons on it, a car in a parking lot has "post-it" notes all over it with the word "Prom?" written in, or your local store is suddenly short on flowers, construction paper and tape, do not be alarmed; it is the start of prom season. I don't know if there is an "asking someone to the prom" Pinterest page, but I can tell you that students have gotten much more creative in the past couple of years!
I know that there is still a lot of snow and cold out there, but winter sport sectionals start at the end of this week and spring sport sign-ups are underway. This is a good sign!
Enjoy the week!
Chris
