Girl Power

Girls Lacrosse Wins Again!: She shoots, she scores! What a great ride for the girls varsity lacrosse team. A group that was denied access to the state championship last year due to an unexpected early exit from sectionals, came back this year with a "Wildcat" roar this year and dominated their way to their seventh New York State Championship.

Role models on and off the field, this particular group of young women wear the West Genesee name with pride, determination, grit, and character. This championship places the girls lacrosse program, under the leadership of coach Bob Elmer, just shy of the  halfway mark to the boys lacrosse NYS championship total of 15; in a quarter of the time. At this rate the girls will be putting some pressure on the boys and that friendly internal competition should further elevate both programs! I could not be happier with this group. Well deserved!

Thank you to the community for their support and cheering the girls on as the buses returned to fire trucks and sirens! (please check out the short video above.)

Media Coverage: I would also like to publicly thank reporter Phil Blackwell as well as the Syracuse Media Group for their coverage of the girls sectional and state finals in all classes. I am usually frustrated at how little coverage girls sports gets over boys sports, but this year there was a concerted effort to provide some balance and I appreciate the coverage as a superintendent and someone who wants to see ALL students get some recognition for their accomplishments. Thank you.

Awards and Scholarships: Earlier in the week we held the high school Senior Awards Program which was as impressive as ever. Well over a hundred students received over $500,000 in awards and scholarships from colleges, the military, community organizations, and memorials established by local families. I am very appreciative of the generosity of our community and very proud of the students and their hard work as they were awarded for their efforts.

Seniors Soar at Rocket Challenge: I was keeping an eye on Twitter this weekend and our Career and Technical Education program (CTE) had a large group of students compete in a rocket building and flying competition in the CNY Rocket Building Challenge. One of our teams (S.N.A.G.R.) received first place! Nice work!

Capital Project Update: As the school year wraps up and we inch closer to graduation, we are learning that the New York State Education Department is significantly behind in approving Capital Projects. Surprise! How far behind are they? Well, right now it looks like the initial phase of our project will be approved sometime in August if we are lucky. That will allow us to begin work around October which is about five months later than we would have liked. My bald spot might be bigger by the time we get going, but at least we have a project in the hopper.

This week is the last week of classes at the high school before we head into Regents week. It is tough for me to wrap my head around that. Very busy week during the evenings but hope to see you soon.

Chris