Recognizing our many blessings this Thanksgiving

I want to extend a warm and memorable Thanksgiving wish to all the families and friends throughout our communities. We are having a successful school year and have much to be thankful for. Our parents and staff have worked through the challenges that the pandemic has created to a point where it has not, for the most part, disrupted educational access and support. We, like many industries, struggle to recruit staff for new positions and to find substitute employees when staff are not able to come to work. We all owe thanks to our district employees who pour out their energy each day to meet the needs of 1200+ children, as well as motivating and supporting children to put their best foot forward each hour of each day. Certainly, we continue to need parent support; staff and administration need to continue to feel the support of parents as we work with your children. We are thankful to work in a community so supportive of schools, family values, and social values. This support is what makes our community and schools highly successful and respectful.  

I took a moment to thank our staff today. It is truly impressive to be out and about at Pioneer Elementary School on any given morning to witness the whole process of busing, breakfast, recess, getting to lockers, getting books and Chromebooks, getting to class, and getting students ready to learn. Each school day, 600+ elementary children arrive, smiling and happy to see a loving adult help them with anything they need. Whether it’s a bus driver, a para, a custodian, a teacher, a cook, an office staff—everyone is here to help and to serve the needs of our students. It is amazing to see it all work. At Healy, it is impressive to see so many teenagers waking up early to work out, or play an instrument, or practice singing, or meet a teacher to talk about studies they need help with. It is impressive to see so many kind high school students living their best life and helping fellow classmates to do the same. That is a testament to our parents as well as the staff who go out of their way to engage children in and out of the classroom.  

Thank you—to all reading this. I hope each of you partakes in some wonderful food and time with immediate and extended family, to be able to pause and take notice of the blessings and values we have around us, and to celebrate the things that make this a great place to be a family.

​—Superintendent George Weber