We are past the 100th day of school and believe it or not the end of the school year is coming very quickly.  For the seniors, it is hard to believe that within about 70 school days they will be moving onto the next phase in their lives and they will leave Alvirne behind to become a memory.  For the rest, things are happening that will  change their lives forever.

For the Class of 2012, it is nearing the time that they will need to step up and become the true leaders of the school.  Looking to what their futures will be and what options they have will be a wonderful as well as a scary thing.  Every single one of these students should have already started to formulate a plan.  The scariest three words I know come from  a 17 year old.  When asked what do you want to do when you leave high school and the 17 year old replies, "I don't know."  I have a great fear for these young people.

On the first day of their Sophomore year I let the students know that the word sophomore in Latin translates to "wise yet foolish".  They have the knowledge to know better but sometimes don't use that knowledge to their advantage.  I challenge them to ask answer three questions. 

• What do you want to do when you leave high school?
• What will it take to reach that goal?
• What are you willing to sacrifice to make that happen? 

I often wonder where they are in finding the answers to these questions. Are they finding their way past the foolishness and seriously looking to their future?  For many I can see the wheels turning but not for all.

As far as our Freshman, the first semester is over and the majority are doing well.  The failure rate is lower than it has been in many years and the honor roll for the first two quarters has been a great showing of their efforts.  There are a handful that have not made a successful transition.  I want to work with these students and their parents to find their focus and help them to find their way to the graduation stand on time.

High school is a great time for our students to grow and find out who they are, that is what I truly want for them.

It is hard to believe but spring is coming

Standing out in the parking lot each day is something that I do because I think it gives me a better feel for how students are doing each day as they enter the building.  It also gives me a chance to see parents as they drop off their kids.  I do admit that the day it was below zero, even though I dressed for appropriately, it was not an enjoyable experience.

This morning 18 degrees out and no wind, thank goodness.  All of a sudden the cars stopped and I heard it. There were small birds in the tree next to the side entrance chirping.  It is a sound that makes you smile. Looking at the 30 foot piles of snow around the lot it  is hard to think about it but spring is coming. 

Snow Days a Blessing or a Curse?

As a student back in the dark ages I remember waking up to snow outside and racing to the television to see if school had been called off.  My brother and I would wait and wait and wait until our town came on the screen. On those rare days when it happened, it was the best news anyone could ever hear.  I could go back to sleep, play with friends and go sledding on the street I lived on because the town would always plow the street in at the bottom.. As we got older we would go to Isaac E. Young Junior High School that had a really steep hill.  We would make jumps to see if we could catch some air.  We were lucky if we came back without someone getting hurt but we would still go every time we could.  As we got even older, it was a great way to make money because we would go from street to street to see if someone would pay us to shovel out their driveway or house  ( This was back in the day when snow blowers were very uncommon.) Those were great days.

I hope it is the same for our students in the Hudson School District.  The drama of waiting to see if your school's name came across the screen on the TV has gone away with the use of the Alert Now System.  The phone call comes early in the morning and it wakes up the whole house.  For parents, many times they can't get back to sleep and then for the younger students finding day care has to become the priority.  When the day does not go as normal, people get out of sync and the day can start off bad.  For the students, having the day off is a great thing but making up days, now 5 days, up in mid-June when it is hot is something people are going to complain about.  Plans to go away have to be changed, for AHS students finding a way to get exams in is always a concern.  This is the down side.

I would hope that everyone would remember in June the elation of finding out  they had a day off in January.  When it is really really hot on the third floor on June 21st while you are taking an exam, remember that really great feeling of turning off the alarm, rolling over and gently falling back to sleep. 

Students, enjoy the snow days while you can.  When you are out of school, you still have to go into work even when it snows just like me.