Which Escalator...

There are escalators for all walks of life. Like anything else in the modern era, the wheel of escalators continues to be reinvented. There are up escalators, down escalators, long escalators, short escalators, and even flat escalators for those that are in more of a hurry. As a side note, have you ever noticed that many young children are afraid of the down escalator? They only want to ride up. Regardless, most often, escalators are devices that help an individual get from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ in a manner that requires less effort than normal. However, what about the other escalator? What about the escalator that relates to emotions and human management of stress? It’s funny how even in these situations, most humans choose the ‘up escalator’ as well. Given the opportunity to step back from a situation, think about the options logically, and make a conscious choice to de-escalate a situation; most human beings will choose the opposite. They will choose to escalate something and cause a current bad situation to become worse. Why? The concept of de-escalation seems to be something that most people don’t want to address. By focusing on the down escalator, we can help each other. Rather than increase an individual’s tension, frustration, anger; we can be a part of the solution. De-escalation can be as simple as walking away from a situation. It could also be talking with a calm voice, maintaining an appropriate personal space, a smile, attempting to change the subject, or simply saying “I’m sorry, how can I help?” No matter which way you shake it, children are afraid of the down escalator and adults are afraid of de-escalation. It’s time to stop being afraid of the down escalator and working together to help people that are experiencing stress, not making things more challenging for them.

Going Google

This week, the Rome City School District has officially converted the mail, calendar, and cloud services to Google. Our staff will now have the benefits of Google Classroom and #GAFE (Google Apps For Education) that we previously have not had at our disposal. For any staff member in the District, your email will now accessed through the web address: mail.romecsd.org, or through the dashboard on the website, or through the Google mail icon on your desktop. The web addresses for other items include the calendar (calendar.romecsd.org) and for your GoogleDrive (drive.romecsd.org). All of your files and information from Office 365 should have been transferred to your new mail and/or your Google Drive. This is a web based application which means that the icon for Outlook will no longer work. If you have any questions or concerns, please check in with your building PC specialist or SYSOPS. If they are unavailable, please contact the I.T. department. 

OctoberQuest Run/Walk

On Saturday, September 30, CNY Quest will be sponsoring their third annual OktoberQuest 5K Run/Walk event. The event will benefit CNY Quest, a local agency that provides services for children and adults with developmental disabilities, including autism. Money raised goes toward more people getting the services they need in our area. Many of our students and families are supported through these services and/or are active members with CNY Quest. There will be cash prizes for the top runners. For course details, check out the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OktoberQuest/. Registration for the event can be done by visiting https://runsignup.com/OktoberQuest. 

Taste of Rome

The Rome Art and Community Center is hosting the first annual Taste of Rome on September 30 from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the RACC, 308 W. Bloomfield St. The event is free and open to the public. This family friendly occasion includes food trucks, art activities, a children's reading room, live music, local farmers, bounce houses, contests for food vendors, and children's activities. Also, Paw Patrol will be on site, the MC is Crazy Awesome Weddings guy, Blaine Wiggins. The National Anthem will be sung at Noon to kick off the day, Jon Liebing will be playing at 12:00 to 1:00, Eddie Arcuri will be rocking it at 1:00 to 2:00, Rome Community Theater will be doing skits, Jimmy Wolf will be playing at 2:00 to 3:00. Skippy John Jones will be here with the story telling circle from 2:00 to 3:00, pumpkin and rock painting, bounce house, utica zoo mobile, face painting, balloon people, photo booth, Full Lotus Yoga, Bailey's karate demonstration at 1:00, All Different local Artisan craft vendors, Broasters Coffee, Copper City Brewing, SPRESSOS, Art Works By Donna Burch, Bags by Michelle Entelisano, Decorating by Nancy Loreto's Creative Designs, Ella's Room, The Rome Fire Department and Police Departments vehicles and employees will also be a part of the festivities. Finally, contests that the community will be voting on will also be held. 

Dental Services

SUNY Canton’s dental hygiene program is looking for volunteer patients who have not had a cleaning in at least 6 months to come visit their students for preventative dental care. Located at the VA Rome Hospital (125 Brookley Road), the services provided include:

• Oral Cancer Screening and Cavity Check
• Dental X-Rays When Necessary
• Cleaning and Polishing of Teeth
• Fluoride Treatments

There is a small fee to defray the cost of supplies:

*$10.00 per child 18 years of age and younger

*$15.00 per (adult 19+)

* Free for veterans

Days of services are Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:00 a.m. or 1:00 p.m. 
(Appointments are approx. 2.5 hours)   

*since we are a teaching clinic, you may need to return in order to complete care.                      

Please call Shelley (315) 336-3484 to schedule an appointment.