Respect the Past, Represent the Future

I hope that everyone enjoyed the weekend. The weather is finally starting to turn for the better, and I got to run in shorts for the first time in a LONG time. Girls and Boys Lacrosse are both off to solid starts (keep an eye on both teams this season), and we hope to get baseball (looking forward to throwing batting practice to them), softball (going to try to hit a fast pitch softball), girls golf (going to try to beat them at a practice this spring), and track (going to try to run a 200m with the kids) off the ground shortly.

West Genesee Musicians Invited to Eastern Regional Concert: Last week we learned that two fine arts students, Julia Musengo and Kevin Buff were selected to perform at the 2017 Biennial Eastern Division Concert. That is a "big deal" as they say. It is rare for a school to have one student selected, let alone two. We are proud of these two students and their accomplishments will add to the storied history of our Fine Arts department overall.

Honoring the Past: When I teach courses about leadership, I tell people that it is important to respect the past but represent the future. Someone that deserves to be respected in our history is Bruce Burritt. Fifty years ago, Bruce led the first Wildcat Band into competition. Through his time as Director, the band won multiple NYS and National championships. 
Mr. Burritt also led the West Genesee Wind Ensemble to state and national acclaim. His legacy has endured as his students, Andy Perry (Nationally published and accredited) and Bill Davern (Director of Fine Arts and recent winner of the 2017 Outstanding Educator of the Year Award through SAANYS), have continued to maintain a tradition of excellence with the Wildcat Band and Wind Ensemble. Bruce was recently inducted into the Bands of America Hall of Fame, an incredible honor.

Community Band: Mr. Perry has been working on a special project that I am certain both Julia and Kevin could be a part of once they graduate called the "Community Band". With over seventy members from many graduating classes, they played their first performance last month to over six hundred people. They are awesome, so keep an eye out for word of their next performance which should be some time in May.

Reminder to Make Good Choices: With the weather finally changing to spring, students (and us for that matter) turn from being stir crazy to being a little wild and crazy sometimes. If you are a parent of a teenager, this is the PERFECT time to have a conversation with your kids (and yes, they may think you are nagging them but that is okay; it is worth it) about making good choices, being careful about driving and about being passengers with friends they may be driving with. What I have found with this generation of students, is that threatening them and using negativity does not work; talking about shared responsibility does. We are all in this together, so let's work together to keep them safe!

Thanks and have a great week!
Chris