Don't Lose It...

 As life goes on, there becomes an increasingly large number of things that a person can lose. If you're anything like me, you probably feel like you are losing your mind more times in a day than you care to talk about! But there truly are kinds of things that we have grown to rely on every day to help us through our lives. Material things are obvious and losing a material possession can cause a significant problem. Just misplacing a phone or a set of keys can cause some people to go into complete panic mode. However, there are many things in life that are not material in nature that are really driving the force in our daily lives. One thing that is so important for our students is that we do not lose our "why". Why did we enter the educational profession? What is our passion? All of us had a reason for entering education, and if I had only one guess to make as to what the vast majority of our "why" was, it would be to help improve the lives and futures of children. There is no doubt in my mind when I visit schools and see our staff working with children, their goal is to make student experiences and lives better. However, children are challenging. Because their brains are growing, they are growing, they thirst for learning, and they thirst to put into practice whatever the latest thing they learned. Sometimes, the things that they learn may not be appropriate or good. This adds to the challenge of working with kids. And worse yet, it destroys a person's ability to remember their "why". Far too often when kids present challenges and don't meet the expectations that we, adults who barely know them, set for them, the student is written off as bad or unreachable. This is simply not true. It is not easy, there is no doubt. But our kids need us to first know them. Understand them. Sit with them. Talk with them. And maybe even have a little fun with them. Kids want adults to be there for them and they inherently want to respect adults. The majority of negative student behaviors are actually created by adults not recognizing that they are escalating a situation, instead of de-escalating. And most all of these situations are born from us losing our "why" for even a split second. So, as we get deeper into the school year and things get a little more comfortable, I simply want to remind folks to not lose your "why" and stay on target for our kids. It's so easy to wander, have a bad day, and want to flex our adult muscles, but it's not necessary. Stay focused on what it is that brought you to education in the first place, and don't lose it!

October 7 & 10 - No School

As a reminder to families, Friday, October 7 is a Superintendent's Conference Day for our staff, which means there is no school for students. Also, Monday, October 10 is Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples' Day so schools will be closed. We hope you enjoy the long weekend.

Transportation Information & Updates

In an effort to mainstream communications for families in need of transportation support, the district has launched a transportation email (asktransportation@romecsd.org) that will forward questions to all members of transportation team. Also, as we get into the year and the weather turns colder, please remember that our buses will stop at houses/bus stops and wait for students for a minute before they have to move on to ensure that their route stays on time. We understand that kids want to wait until the last minute to go outside in colder weather, however, please be reminded that if a student misses the bus and the GPS shows that the bus was on time and waited, we cannot do second trips to pick those students up.

BOE Vacancy

The Board of Education is currently searching for a candidate to fill a vacant seat on the Board until the general election in May 2023. Interested individuals should submit a letter of interest and resume to the Board President before Friday, October 7, 2022. For more information, please visit our website at: https://www.romecsd.org/article/854852.

ThougthExchange Event

This weekend, the district has launched a ThoughtExchange for families and staff to learn more about what school experiences you had as a student that made learning fun and/or exciting for you. To participate in our ThoughtExchange, please visit the link: https://tejoin.com/scroll/862126095. We ask that you please share your thoughts on the questions, as well as rate the responses of others. This exchange will be open until the end of the day on Wednesday, October 12.

Oneida County Clean Up Day

During the weekend of October 22 and 23, the Oneida County Youth Bureau will be holding its annual Intergenerational Fall Clean-Up event. They are looking for children of all ages to come together and assist community members in need of help with basic Fall clean-up tasks, such as raking, sweeping, and collecting debris. If you have an interested student, student group, or community youth group, please contact your child's school or the Oneida County Youth Bureau for more details.