Spring? Not so Fast!

I hope all of you enjoyed a weekend that felt like spring. I know I sure did, and I am sore from using muscles I haven't used since early fall. I am sure that Mother Nature has more in store for us this winter, but we should certainly enjoy the weather any time that we can when we live in Syracuse, New York!

The Inauguration: The best rumor I heard all weekend was that I did not allow students to watch the Inauguration ceremony for President Trump. Could you imagine? Those who know me (and most of you reading should by now) know that I would never use my position to block a student, or adult for that matter, from experiencing history. We had to make sure that our Internet pipeline was as open as possible so anyone who wanted to stream it, could!

I will admit that I was very worried about the potential for violence, and we did plan accordingly in the event of having to react to threats, violence, or disturbances; and we planned for this for either candidate because they were both so polarizing to the nation. Luckily, the transformation of power went without major incident, and we are all moving forward.

Marching for Rights: On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of women rallied around the world to support equality, women's rights, and peace. One of those marchers was my sister, Sarah Patterson. I have written in the past that I am the oldest of three adopted children. My brother and sister are Native American; and I am not. She is in the middle and I would describe her as part artist and part activist for Native American rights, but for the rights of women as well. 

She marched in Washington, DC with this piece of art that she made and it garnered a lot of attention from the media. As she left she was approached by a security guard from the National Museum of the American Indian who stated that her work would be considered for display in the museum as a part of the history of the day. Pretty cool, and I am proud of her. You can place your cursor over the picture to read her interpretation of her work. I am very thankful that everyone who went was able to rally in peace, and arrive home safely.

Basketball Player Hits a Milestone: Congratulations goes out to senior boys basketball player Malik Zachery for scoring his 1,000th point last week against Fayetteville-Manlius. We will not get a chance to recognize him officially until our next home boys' game in about a week and a half, but I want to sincerely thank the FM Hornets for recognizing his accomplishment that night and on social media. That is true class.

All-County Concert: Also a big congratulations to all of our Junior All-County Concert participants who performed at Solvay High School over the weekend. For a listing of those who participated click here. We really DO have talent within these four walls, and I invite you to check out the many performances that we are going to have this spring leading up to the fine arts Super Bowl that we call Kaleidoscope!

Academic Decathlon season is upon us and our team started out with a strong performance. They came in second at the Section III competition this past weekend and will go on to compete at the state level in March. I am looking forward to another strong season from them.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the week!

Chris