So. Much. Stuff Going On!

Marching Band Previews Their New Program: Under a full moon and on an absolutely perfect night, the Marching Band held their annual preview. They have been practicing all summer, and I have a very good feeling that they are going to be fiercely competitive this year. At 160 members strong, they sound full, present, and confident. The color guard make you feel how the music sounds.

They are very ready to make a name for themselves; and I am looking forward to watching them perform. Thanks to Charlie Miller for taking some fantastic photos. Check out the online calendar from our website for their performance schedule as they make their way to the "Dome Show". I am excited!

Girls Varsity Lacrosse Coaches: I am also excited to announce that we have selected our Girls Varsity Lacrosse head coach, as well as his paid assistant coach. We are happy to welcome Drew White and Riley Donahue to our Wildcat Family. Drew White is very involved in the Girls Lacrosse community, and he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in running a successful girls program. 

Since 2007 he has been the head Varsity Lacrosse coach at Fulton as well as the owner/director of the Salt City Snipers Girls Lacrosse Club. Some highlights from Drew’s career include: Section 3 Girls Lacrosse representative, three- time Freedom League Coach of the Year, 2018 Under Armour Games Highlight Coach, and Coach of four US Lacrosse High School All-Americans and 18 US Lacrosse Academic All-Americans.

Riley Donahue returns to West Genesee after a very successful four-year campaign at Syracuse University, where she was a two-time team captain and earned ACC Academic All-American honors. While at West Genesee she was a two-time NYS Champion, team captain her senior season, 2014 All-CNY Player of the Year, and First Team All-American. She also participated in Ice Hockey, winning the 2014 NYS Championship and earning All-CNY First Team honors. Riley has coached with the Gary Gait Lacrosse Club, Salt City Snipers, Syracuse Lacrosse camps, and Town of Camillus Parks and Recreation program. They will begin lacrosse operations immediately. Congratulations Coaches White and Donahue!

Transportation Training: I want to publicly thank Armoured One for coming to West Genesee last week to train our bus drivers and mechanics on how to handle potential active shooter situations on school buses. I cannot release all of the techniques that were demonstrated, but I can tell you that after riding one of the buses that I was pretty car sick by the end! Check out this coverage from Newschannel9 about the training. 

We are Ready to Roll:  You will start seeing more cars and activity at each of the buildings this week, and our employees return on Thursday for our Opening Day festivities. If you are a local restaurant owner and reading this, you may want to have some extra staff on hand as we pump nearly 1,000 people back into the local economy.

West Genesee Athletics Honored for Sportsmanship: At the last Board of Education meeting the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) presented West Genesee High School with the Sportsmanship Promotion Banner Award; we are only one of four school communities in the state to receive this 2017-2018 honor. The award is presented to schools which have developed proactive approaches in keeping sportsmanship in the forefront with their students, coaches, spectators, and communities. To read more about the award, click here.

Athletics Update: This Friday our Varsity Football team starts their season against Henninger on the turf field at 6:00 p.m. Also, all  the fall JV and Varsity sports teams begin competition this week. The daily schedule of competitions is available from the Athletics webpage. If this isn't a sure sign that fall is around the corner, I don't know what is!

Thanks for reading! I hope to see you at the State Fair and enjoy the week.

Chris