Waiting for the Football Game to Start

So in keeping with my promise that my readers get some news before everyone else, I am excited to let you know that Avalon, one of contemporary Christian music's most popular groups, will perform in concert at the new Chapel/Performing Arts building on Saturday, November 8 at 7:30 pm. The concert will kick-off "dedication weekend" with a service to follow on Sunday, November 9 at 2 p.m. Look for more information in The Crusader and on the website in the next few weeks. We have some really cool things planned to celebrate the opening of this building.

About a month into the school year things are going well. Our HS athletic teams are doing well and middle school sports are about to get into their game schedules. One thing not going particularly well is traffic. Today I received this email from a parent: I am contacting you regarding pick up and drop off of the 6th graders at you school. It is a little scary at drop off and pick up time. I am experiencing parents cutting in and out from the curb, stopping in the lane of traffic(because the curb is full) to drop off instead of using the curb. This morning I saw a parent stop in the middle lane an let their child walk from the middle of the street to the side walk. I understand that everyone is busy and in a hurry but if everyone followed the guidelines of a single line and pulling up to the car in front of you from the light at Home Run and Hualapai, it might take a minute or so longer but seems that is would be safer and a lot less confusing.
It is possible that I am misunderstanding how this should work, please forward any thoughts.
Homestretch Avenue seems unusually dangerous this year. That is at least in part because the volume of traffic is higher than it should be. Only 6th graders are supposed to be picked up there. On my occasional visits to that part of campus I've noticed that we either have the world's tallest 6th graders, or other students are meeting parents there. We have limited ability to enforce common sense and good judgment. Maybe it's time to hand out detentions to students who are in the wrong place and have parents serve them!

This week Mr. Orr, Mr. Chalfant and I spent some time at Apple, Inc. They have a great set of products and comprehensive approach to teaching teachers how to use technology to change the way we teach and students learn. We are considering a partnership with them, which would gradually move most of the computers in school from the PC to the Mac platform. I am wondering two things: 1st, have you noticed any difference with your students with our renewed emphasis on technology; and 2nd, do parents care what platform computers our students use?

Friday Night Lights

I guess you would call it a "Dodger" crowd. Parents and fans were trickling into our home game last Friday up until half time and by the time everyone arrived we had a pretty good sized gathering. There is something very communal about a Friday night football game: parents, grandparents, former students and parents, middle schoolers (there more for the socializing than the game), volunteers grilling hot dogs and hamburgers, pep band music playing in the background, cheerleaders and dancers. Friday night football is a great slice of Americana. And when we win the spirit of the evening is even richer.

While I love our theater events and our music performances, it is hard to capture the energy you feel when your team scores and the fight song is played. (And by the way, I continue my decade old battle that fans should stand and at least clap along when the pep band plays the fight song.) Maybe its the coach in me (or perhaps the frustrated athlete)but watching our coaches and athletes come roaring back from a big deficit always inspires pride.

Friday night football games are one of the places strangers to Faith can get a feel for what our community is like. That's why we pay some attention to the way our students come dressed to the games and how they comport themselves while they are there. Those who mill about the sidelines or sit in the student section represent our school even when not wearing the maroon and gold. And it's also why we have high expectations about our fans behavior, expectations that were clearly met at Friday's game, thank you very much!

So I encourage you, even if you are not the parent of a dancer, cheerleader, pep bander or footballer to make some time to attend one of our games. As summer's heat gives way to fall's cooler temps, there are few things as enjoyable as Friday Night Lights. (But watching tennis, volleyball, soccer or cross country makes for a good time too!)