Getting Ready to Land

We finally had some great weather to enjoy and I tried to get the most out of it;  believe me.  I think I spent more time outdoors than indoors, including a sleep over this weekend! My wife and I also got to take in "Ring of Fire", a musical tribute to the late Johnny Cash at Syracuse Stage. If you are even remotely a fan of old country music, Johnny Cash, or Americana, you really should check it out. Top musicians and top notch performances. They are performing until the June 25.

Seniors Wind Down: I am very proud of our high school seniors, and our high school students in general. Each year, people make light of senior pranks around the country, that is, until someone is hurt or bullied, something is damaged, or someone does not get the opportunity to participate in their graduation ceremony. Then, people wonder what more could have and should have been done by the school to prevent the behavior.

We are fortunate that our students are respectful and have that switch in their heads (well, the majority of them anyway) to know right from wrong. The last week of high school classes there is always a heightened awareness and stress for us, but this class pulled through with flying colors and we ended the week with our sights set on graduation, which will take place on Saturday, June 17,  at the SRC Arena at 1:00 p.m. If you are the parent of a senior this year, well done. I have been working with them since they were in third grade and it has been a pleasure to watch them grow up into the people they are today.

The senior high awards are always a highlight of the year. Last Monday, 131 students received over $4M in scholarships and awards thanks to a generous community as well as students with well rounded academics!

Athletics Updates: Also, last week we celebrated the success of our senior athletes. We had nearly five hundred people on hand to applaud and appreciate some very talented student athletes. Special thanks to Charlie Miller from Syracuse Media Group for providing some words of wisdom at the event and congratulations to Mackenzie Baker and Jay Considine for being recognized as student-athletes of the year.

Believe it or not, we have actually still had some athletes competing up until Saturday afternoon. Huge congratulations go out to Evan Tuthill who placed 2nd at the NYS Championships; Meg Delia who placed 13th in NYS Championship 400 hurdles; and to  Emily Young who set a new school record in placing 8th in the 800 meter at the NYS Championships. Also to golfer Dylan Plis, who scored very well in and tied for 13th place at the NYSPHSAA Boys Golf Championships under some very adverse conditions.

This school year also produced a total of ten West Genesee High School athletes who qualified for the Academic All-American honor, nine from the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (NISCA):  Peter Bowman, Emily Cox, Jesse Elmer, Matthew Hotaling, Gabrielle Shuron, Evan Tuthill, Grace Van Hoven, Zachary Walker, and Cassandra Wetmore. Also, West Genesee Boys Lacrosse player Luis (Manny) Castro was named an Academic All-American. All of these athletes had to have very high grades, and have had to compete at the highest levels and have had to also receive letters for their respective sports. Also, West Genesee Girls Lacrosse player Mackenzie Baker was named a High School All-American by US Lacrosse.  Most schools are happy to have a couple all-americans per year, we are fortunate to have eleven. Congratulations to all!

Celebrating 30 Years of Dance: Hats off to high school dance teacher Caroline Brackett for organizing a wonderful tribute to our Dance Program last Tuesday night. The program has been in existence for 30 years and in that time styles and dances have changed, but the relentless pursuit of perfection has not. What a great evening!

End-of-Year Ceremonies:  I also got a chance last week to attend Community Oriented Drug Education (C.O.D.E.) completion ceremonies at the elementary schools (this is a long-time program about making good choices for K-5 students and is a partnership between the District and the Camillus Police Department) as well as several BOCES graduations where we had students completing BOCES programs. Congratulations to all!

Community Coalition Update: The last event of the year for the Community Coalition on Substance Abuse will be held this Wednesday, June 14, at the Municipal Building and is a partnership between the coalition, Camillus Police, and ACR Health. 

The topic is NARCAN Training and participants who complete the training will receive free NARCAN kits (nasal), which ACR Health DOES have on hand. More information about this important training can be found from the flyer to the right. Thanks to all who helped us to have another progressive and successful year fighting drug abuse and addiction in our community.

A Busy Upcoming Weekend: In addition to graduation on Saturday, it is also Father's Day on Sunday. As I tell everyone, I would not be where I am today were it not for the guidance and nurturing by my mom and dad, so Happy Father's Day to all of the dads reading this.

Thanks and congratulations to all of our upcoming 2017 graduates; enjoy the week!

Chris