Summer is here...

Happy summer, everyone!!  I need to apologize for not posting a May blog; it was an extremely trying spring for my family and me as both of my parents passed away within six weeks of each other.  I’m sure many have felt as my family did: even at ninety, we weren’t ready to lose them. I am thankful that the love and devotion they showed to each other has been passed along to all of their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren; getting together has kept them in our midst – and we wonder… does this action help us heal or does it serve as a constant reminder of something we no longer have? While I’m sure that the saying is true and that time heals all wounds, the interim is particularly painful and seemingly interminable.

Summer employees—administrators, secretaries, guidance counselors, and maintenance personnel—are extremely busy as the days zip by.  Greg Shaffer and his staff work very hard in the heat of the summer to get buildings and grounds in top shape for the beginning of the school year.  Administrators are hustling to prepare schedules, staff development activities, and bus routes/stops; they are restocking supplies, tending to curriculum updates and distributing updated records across grade levels and schools, as well as between districts. Then, based on population shifts, they order materials for the coming school year. Added to this school year is training for Skyward, our new Student Information System; secretaries, administrators and selected staff will be going through several days of training.  To support successful implementation of Skyward, the Board has approved the position of a Technical Services Specialist who will be the point of contact for all Skyward trainings, assistance, and troubleshooting issues; this person will assume other technical district related duties, one of which will be registering all new students throughout the school year and during the summer.

Greg and his grounds keepers have been very active aerating, fertilizing and rolling out existing fields to get them in tip top shape for fall sports.  The Board has set a July meeting for the specific purpose of discussing and voting on the hiring of a grounds consultant to develop plans for a new multi-purpose field.  This will not happen overnight but will be a work in progress as we continue to be the hub for our district’s families and community members.  Concurrent with this plan is the Interactive Playground project – and the playground is being assembled as I write this blog.  It will be quite impressive and should be a great addition to the Central Cambria area.

Congratulations to the 115 seniors who recently graduated and to their families for being a part of their educational lives.  My interview with a cadre of seniors was enlightening and informative.  Central Cambria has graduated a wonderful group of seniors.  Their influence and presence will be greatly missed; I’m confident that we’ll hear great things about them over the years.

By now my wonderful wife Judy has now been retired for a year and has managed to keep busy watching grandkids, consulting with various educational agencies and teaching as an adjunct professor.  She has always been active and I am glad she is able to enjoy retirement on her terms.  (By the way, honey, what’s for dinner tonight?)

On the subject of sports, I am again excited for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  They are only a couple games out of first place in their division as they continue their winning ways.  Judy and I recently attended a Pirates game at PNC Park and they really look good this year.  The venue at PNC is awesome; I would encourage you to make a game if you can and enjoy baseball.  In football news, OTAs (Organized Training Activities) are now over for football rookies and training camp starts July 25 – I wonder if Judy will let me fly my Steelers flag; probably not, as she always tell me “not until you smell fall in the air” (even though I did see a yellow leaf yesterday).”  Soon enough I will be watching the Black and Gold rebuild their defense and get back to their winning ways – I hope!

Enjoy your families and what is left of June… go Bucs!

Dr. D.