Honoring Heroes...

-

On Memorial Day, we stop each year to remember and honor the military men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice so that we can live the life that we are all so accustomed to. Memorial Day is filled with parades, bands, military memorabilia and honorees, picnics, barbecues, ice cream, fire works, and more. Across our country it is a day of remembrance and honor for people that most of us never knew, and never knew what the true fight was. Yet part of what makes the American people so great is their ability to band together in times of need and do the small things that make the world a better place; small things like say thank you to complete strangers. The women and men of our military are sacrificing their lives on a daily basis for a country that we all belong to. Without the amazing members of our military (past and present), we would not be able to live the life that we have come accustomed to enjoy over the decades. Beyond what they are doing to keep our country safe, our military friends bring with them a whole host of ideals, actions, and methods about life that we should be learning from. You don't have to be in the military to exemplify the ideals with which their foundation lies. Hard work, effort, help your brother or sister, support your colleagues regardless of all else, and respect for those around you are not hard concepts to understand. On any given day, we can learn from each other about to make our environments a better place, so that we can help make the world a better place. If we as civilians can find a way to make the world a better place, we are also helping make the world a safer place for our military. That is the least we can do to help support all of our friends and strangers that risk their lives each day to protect our freedoms. So, please take time this Memorial Day to thank all of those that you know and don't know in uniform. Thank our veterans who have given their time to help protect our country and way of life. Without all of these fine women and men of the military, we would not be having our parades, picnics, and fireworks. Thank you to all of our military (past and present) for everything you have done to provide our country with a way of life, and for passing on your lessons of respect, support, and camaraderie for all of us who serve the world in a different way. Finally, and most importantly, thank you to the men and women who gave their lives for our freedom on this Memorial Day. Please take time to remember them and why we live the way that we do. 

June 1 Regents Day

On Thursday, June 1, all classes at RFA only will be cancelled due to the administration of the New York State Education Department's United States History Regents Exam. Students in grades 9-12 will not be in session on Thursday, however, all students who are taking the US History Regents exam will be in attendance. For more information, please contact RFA.

2023-2024 Sports Physical Dates

For any student interested in playing a scholastic sport in the 2023-2024 school year, our athletic department will be hosting physicals. The dates and locations for physicals are as follows:

  • Monday, June 5 @ RFA from 7:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
  • Tuesday, June 6 @ Strough from 7:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
  • Monday, August 7 @ RFA from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
  • Thursday, August 10 @ RFA from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
  • Friday, August 11 @ RFA from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
  • Thursday, August 17 @ RFA from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
For more information regarding any of these dates, or for requirements to participate in scholastic athletics, please contact our athletic department.

STEM Summer Camps

This summer, the Griffiss Institute will be offering nine STEM Summer Camp opportunities for students, free of charge, thanks to grant funding that they have secured. Parents can sign students up beginning tomorrow (5/22) at 11:00 a.m. and spots fill up fast. Camps begin for students as young as grade 3. The camps this year will include Lego Robotics, Cyber Camp, Principles of Flying 1, Principles of Flying 2, Engineering, Arduino, Drone, Sphero, and Quantum Innovation. For more information about each of the camps and for registration links, please visit their website at https://www.griffissinstitute.org/who-we-work-with/afrl/stem/summer-programs.

YMCA Summer Camp

The Rome YMCA is currently offer summer day camp opportunities for children. This is a 10-week program that runs all summer and families are able to register for the whole 10 weeks, or week by week based on their needs and schedule. For more information about this camp, please see their flier here: https://app.peachjar.com/flyers/2487110/districts/32521.

Job Fair 

On Wednesday, May 31, the RFA Counseling Department will be hosting a Job Fair at Rome Free Academy from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The fair include many local employers and is geared toward students leaving high school looking for employment and community members looking for employment. The time slot from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. is for RFA students only. 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. will be open to the public. For more information, please visit https://app.peachjar.com/flyers/2482082/districts/32521.


Popular posts from this blog

It Takes A Village...

-
Image
 We all know the old phrase, "it takes a village to raise a child." One can reflect on the phrase and find a few different ways to interpret its meaning, however, it cannot be argued that when groups of people work together to help their children grow, success is more likely. To me, I view this phrase as referencing that there is someone within every community that a child can connect with to help them feel a part of their school and/or community. It may not be their classroom teacher or their principal. It may be a bus driver, a coach, a teaching assistant, secretary, custodian, food service worker, music teacher, art teacher, computer specialist, monitor, etc. The list can go on and on. Why mention this? Well, currently, one of the largest and most important educational research projects in our nation's history is occurring with some of the leading educational experts researching what education needs to be by the year 2025. Education 2025 is producing information that m...
Read more

When One Door Opens, Many More Follow...

-
Image
One of the hardest things to do in life is to deal with change. There is that old saying, "When one door closes, another door opens." I wonder though, why does a door have to close for another to open. Why can't many doors open when someone decides to go through a new door? I am about to embark on a new professional journey in the coming weeks and I refuse to think that the building that I have helped to lead over the past 3 years is going to be a closed door. Instead, I can think of thousands of opportunities that have been opened because of my decision to walk through a new door. I think of all of the people that have touched my life (students, staff, and parents) and I honestly don't see why a door has to close. Instead of that thinking, I choose to think that thousands of doors are opened now with all of the amazing people that I have had the opportunity to lead. The lessons that have been learned, the friendships that have developed, and the opportunities tha...
Read more

I Had A Dream...

-
Image
Once upon a time, when we all began our careers or started a new position/school, we had dreams. Dreams of what we wanted to accomplish, dreams we wanted to see our students accomplish, dreams we wanted to see our school communities achieve. Throughout my travels though, I have seen more adults tell students that should lower their expectations and downsize their dreams. Unfortunately, I would say that the ratio of adults encouraging students and adults discouraging students is close to 1:1 in my career. I ask, would you be where you are today without someone throughout your educational life encouraging you to pursue your dreams? As with many things in our schools, we need to focus on the positives that are happening and capitalize on them. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream for our country, and while his dream was related to equal rights and oppression, his intended message of having a dream and working tirelessly to achieve it can be applied universally in society. Recently, ...
Read more