August 30, 2012

Woodlawn community,

Big News!! The Woodlawn Principals’ Blog has hit 100 followers!  Chris Murphy and I would like to thank everyone who has made this dubious honor possible.  We started out with a computer and a template.  Now, 100 people react to pearls of wisdom…wait, that might be a little strong, 100 people anxiously await our insights and the thinking of two charismatic leaders…again, too much...100 people are informed about the business that goes on here at Woodlawn.  Much better.  My hope is that no one drops out at this point…that would be embarrassing.

Our 6^th graders are adapting to middle school very well, 7^th graders are doing a great job and our 8^th graders have been terrific!  I hope the beginning of your school year at home has been as positive as ours. I am looking to create more leadership opportunities for all of our students.  Looking to the future, I believe it is critical that the students take a more active role on the subject of bullying.  Mr. Murphy and I talked to the students about expectations on their first full day of school.  Our expectations of Woodlawn students is one thing, what we are shooting for is to have the students raise their expectations for each other.  I will keep you informed about this topic as the school year goes on. 

Normally in this blog, you receive a note that says check out the PTO newsletter link above.  However, today I am reminding everyone to check out the following items because our PTO numbers for special lunch and dessert day are way down.   If you haven’t registered your student for these special days, you need to do so immediately!  The deadline for sign up is Friday, August 31st.  Please click on the following links to print out the forms and get them turned in by Tuesday! DO THIS NOW SO YOU DO NOT FORGET!!!  Also, if you haven’t registered your Dominick’s fresh value card to the eScrip program, please do this as well.  We made a lot of money for the school simply by parents registering their fresh values card. 

Here are the items: Dessert Day, Special Lunch and eScrip. 

Quite often, we work with Stevenson High School and share our fundraising opportunities.  With the passing our beloved teacher, Mrs. Linda Downie, this fundraiser seems appropriate. A former student asked if I could mention Spirit Fest and put in this blurb.   

September 15th will be Stevenson High School’s annual Spirit Fest. Last year we raised over $20,000 for CASA. This year’s charity is the Lauri S. Bauer Foundation for Sudden Loss. The Lauri S. Bauer Foundation subsidizes grief counseling and other forms of support for the physical and spiritual journey of recovery for those who have suffered a loss. You can find out more about the charity on their website. Spirit Fest is for families with children of all ages. There is music, food, inflatables, the Spirit Walk, a teacher dunk tank, and we will be attempting to break the world record for longest glow-in-the-dark salsa line. We finish Spirit Fest with a firework show. It’s a lot of fun and we hope you can join us. Go here for more information and to sign up for the event. Can’t wait to see you there! (If you are unable to get the link to the Spirit Walk, please visit the Stevenson High School website.)

For those interested in poms/cheerleading at the high school level, there is a link to a camp that our P.E. teacher Mrs. Blair supports through SHS.  Please visit our district website for that link.  

Finally, all baseball season, I didn’t want to believe in my White Sox.  Now it is September and they are in first place.  I am on board.  Any Cub fan wanting to get on the bandwagon, I have the appropriate paper work to fill out.  You will need a crayon. 

Have a safe Labor Day weekend.  

p.s.  My wife is a follower to this blog, I didn't realize that fact.  She was not pleased with the number of fantasy football leagues I am in.  Sorry dear.