We have some amazing new teachers in Worthington!

Our new teachers, our new teachers! Have you met them? It is worth meeting every single one of them as soon as you can.  Taking from children’s author, Roald Dahl, I watch them with glittering eyes.

My first month of teaching I could barely navigate a school campus, let alone provide authentic learning in five different formats (including virtual) with new content and resources that I am teaching for the first time, while building rapport with students.  All of us have been engaged in new learning, unlearning, and reimagining. And, for these new professionals in our midst, they are doing so (tapping my heart)  in their first year of teaching. 

Whether they are newly minted graduates or former Worthington parent volunteers, our new teachers are lifting the art of teaching and learning in this unprecedented time. If they had a calling card (or hashtag, or twitter handle . . .), the words placed upon that card would be heart and action. This cohort loves building positive relationships with students, and they have hit the ground running. 

Tiffany Settle, a new kindergarten teacher, enjoys the newness at hand and enjoys building a community with her students. She shares, “I  have embraced the challenges of being a new teacher in a different format by using it as an opportunity to think about how my traditional classroom would be and rethinking ways to bring the same hands-on engagement and community building to our classroom today, in 2020.  While it is sometimes challenging, I am already seeing this payoff.  I noticed how much community we were able to build through Zoom that transitioned right into our classroom.”

Sean Smith, a new high school teacher, commits to every new moment as he ushers in thoughtful approaches with his students. He notes that, “The most exciting part about teaching in 2020 is definitely the amount of unknown that comes with each day and also being a part of helping this group of kids navigate such a difficult time in our country’s history.

In a time when we are unsure what each month will look like, these new folks on our team are truly threading the art of teaching and learning with dynamic energy. I’m most excited about the amount of creativity to come out of such a unique situation,” as Rosy-Mariam Aly, a new middle school teacher, points out about her innovative classroom. “Whether that’s through lessons  or through student work, it’s wonderful to see so many colleagues and students still flourish and provide such hope for the future.”

Yes, we have much hope for the future as these bright individuals lead and model our shared work. 

–Tricia Merenda Coordinator of Language Arts and Social Studies

Growth and Change

Next time you are at the Worthington Education Center you will notice the installation of a new sculpture on the Southwest side of the building.

The sculpture, “Growing the Fruits of Character”, was designed collaboratively last school year by about 130 of our elementary students serving as “Character Ambassadors” in the Hands and Voices of Hope project.  The group represents students working on leadership, self-improvement, and service.  As part of this group, the kids engage with 2-3 community service projects, create a public work of art to give to the district, and end with a Celebration of Hope concert.

Unfortunately because of our COVID-19 stay at home order last year, the pandemic stole their concert from them. They worked with local artist Dustin Weathersby to design the sculpture last winter. The artist completed the work this summer and installation happened just last week.

The sculpture depicts the tree of growth and character. The trunk represents the Worthington Community, and the bark is a “patchwork” of diverse people and skills.  The 11 branches on the tree represent the 11 elementary schools of Worthington, where our children learn and grow from the community.  There is an owl (a Worthington Estates owl, no less) and her young that represent generations living with responsibility (visible from the building side of the tree). The inside of the tree depicts the inside of our mouths and throats to speak wisdom, and the overall shape is a heart for compassion.  The “fruits” are the representation of a human heart (one of our students actually said “did you ever notice that an acorn kinda looks like a heart?”) representing a heart for service.

Our Director of Elementary Education Patrick Callaghan is the brainchild of this opportunity for our students.  I appreciate his efforts and I am extremely proud of the depth of thinking and character that our students poured into the sculpture design. We believe it is a fitting symbol of our work with students — not only in this pandemic, but always.  Our students really embrace their role of being empowered to change the world!

Stop by the Worthington Education Center and check it out!

-Trent Bowers, Superintendent

Change and iOS14

If you have an iphone you know that Apple just recently released their new operating system iOS14.  The release of iOS 14 is one of Apple’s biggest iOS updates to date, introducing Home screen design changes, major new features, updates for existing apps, Siri improvements, and many other tweaks that streamline the iOS interface.

My daughters were excited about the change.  They immediately hit the update button and began designing their own widgets, changing app covers to new color schemes, and moving everything on their phone to new places.  Some would say this is a major improvement.

My reaction was a bit different.  The little red number showed up on my homescreen indicating that an update was available. I just left it there for a week.  I had read about the new iOS 14 and while it did look like it offered a number of improvements they weren’t improvements I needed for any reason.  I knew where my apps were on my phone.  I knew what color each app was.  Why would I want to change any of that?  So for about a week I just looked at that little red number.  

But, having something undone creates some anxiety for me.  Some of you can have hundreds or even thousands of emails in your unread mailbox.  If I have five I’m concerned.  So thinking about this change was creating its own level of anxiousness.  This was silly.  It’s an iPhone.  I could just move back to a flip phone but I like to text more than talk so….finally I just hit the button.  My phone updated and I had to have one of my daughters show me how to move things around.  But the change happened and actually I like my new widgets.  It’s been positive and I worried for a week for no reason.

I share this because change is going to be part of our school year.  We know that likely things will continue to change throughout this year.  Some of us are excited about a potential change and all of the new possibilities.  Some of us want even more change than is going to happen at this time.  Some of us are happy the way things are and aren’t looking forward to the change, maybe we’re even fighting against it.  

Just like a new operating system for my iPhone we’re in for a year of changes.  People react to change differently.  Some of us look forward to it and seek it out.  Some of us resist it and try to ignore it for as long as we can.  Usually when we look back the change was o.k.  Tomorrow we’re making the change from remote learning to hybrid learning.  I hope it’s a change you’re excited about.

-Trent Bowers, Superintendent

We will be hybrid September 29th

At the September 1st Special Worthington Board of Education meeting, the board set a transition-to-hybrid-learning date of September 29th.  Monday, September 28th is Yom Kippur, and out of respect for our Jewish families, we don’t want to transition on that day.  The 28th will still be a remote learning day. It was clear that we all desire to have students back learning in schools with our teachers but want to make sure we’re doing so as safely as possible.   We committed to continue to talk daily with Columbus Public Health and by Thursday, September 24th we would make a final decision on mode.  By waiting until September 29th we had the advantage of seeing what works and doesn’t work with surrounding districts. 

This communication is designed to let you know that we will indeed move to our hybrid form of learning next Tuesday, September 29th.  Our surrounding school districts, Olentangy and Hilliard, have been hybrid since August 31st.  Both report success in that format.  Dublin and New Albany have been hybrid since September 8th.  We don’t have any significant stories from surrounding districts that would cause us not to move forward.

When talking with Columbus Public Health Commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts on Tuesday, September 22nd she said:

“Things are going well.  The week of September 13-19 in Columbus we saw a 20.6 percent reduction in cases.  This is good news.  Two weeks prior there was a significant increase due to OSU.  Those numbers have slowly started to decrease.  Right now we find ourselves in a good position.

Looking at the age ranges that you are involved with 0-16 those numbers are pretty flat.  Where we do start to see an increase in numbers that have now gone down again is the 17-22-year-olds.  Again, not so much the population you are working with.

I’m feeling good where we are right now.  I don’t want this, by any means, to make people think that we can go back to normal or heed an uptick in any shape or form.  Flu season has not arrived yet.” 

Additionally, the Columbus Dispatch reported this week that “Ohio’s COVID-19 positive test rate declined to 3% according to the State Health Data.  This is the lowest it has been since March.”

 Thus, we’re moving to hybrid next week.  

During the “Hybrid” Schedule 

Half of the school’s student population will be in attendance every school day; students assigned to “GROUP A” will attend Monday and Wednesday of each week; students assigned to “GROUP B” will attend Tuesday and Thursday of each week. Groups A and B will be designated by the alphabet (A-K for Group A and L-Z for Group B) so families with children in multiple schools are in school on the same days. Families with multiple last names will default to the oldest student in the household’s last name, and individual schools will work as much as possible with families who need to group together for childcare purposes.

On Fridays, Groups A and B will be rotated approximately every other week according to the Hybrid calendar.

All Kindergarten students will operate on the A and B schedule. All-Day families will have payment prorated for time, not in All-Day, everyday Kindergarten.

All schools will work to facilitate the fullness of district programming, on a reduced schedule, and modified learning plan when appropriate, including elementary related arts, academic interventions, gifted programming, and instrumental music.

School practices such as meals, related arts, etc., may be altered to promote student health and safety. Parents should expect some changes to current food policies in order to protect students who have food allergies.

To minimize contact and social distancing, students in middle and high schools will not be able to utilize lockers. In addition, school staff at all levels will create signage and instruct students to follow “one-way” hallways when possible. Finally, no field trips and large-group student events will be planned for at least the first semester.

Teachers will engage with students for face-to-face learning on assigned “at school” days, facilitating new learning experiences based on academic standards, and prepare students for independent work on their assigned “at home” days. There is no expectation that teachers will connect specifically with students during students’ “at home” days, as teachers will be facilitating face-to-face learning with the other group of students.

Students will work to complete assignments with access to their grade-level learning platform, Seesaw for grades K-5 and Schoology for grades 6-12. In these platforms, students can access a variety of videos, lessons, templates, assignments, virtual tutorials, and other tools to support their “at home” work.

Teachers will be expected to maintain productive communication with families and students using the common learning management systems.

Attendance at school is counted, which follows State and Health Department guidelines for operation. There is an expectation for students to complete assignments during the asynchronous, at-home, practice days

In Preparation for Hybrid Learning:

Hybrid Blue/Green Calendar Hybrid Calendar

Meals:  Food Service – Menus

All students will still be able to get one free breakfast and one free lunch for each day school is in session as we move to hybrid.  We will be providing In School, Take-Home, and Pick Up options for students.  Logistics are in the final stages and schools will communicate procedures this week.

School Start and End Times – School Start & End Times

Bus Routes

Quarantined Students:  At times, students may be quarantined.  Our primary goal is to ensure the continuation of learning to the fullest extent possible during a quarantine/isolation period.

A COVID Dashboard will be updated daily:  COVID Dashboard

More Information:  Responsible Restart Links

 We’re excited to have students back in our schools learning for the first time since March.  Things will certainly be different than they normally are and schools have released videos and information that is specific to each school.  If you have questions that pertain to your student please reach out to the principal at your school this week so we can best assist you to be ready for next week! 

-Trent Bowers, Superintendent

Focusing on the Positive

Remote learning can be full of challenges.  One of the issues we all face is simply not being together and the difficulties that occur when we have tech issues or when students don’t have everything they need.  Throughout last week I heard story after story about our Worthington teachers and administrators going the extra mile to attempt to troubleshoot these issues.  It’s much appreciated by all of us.  

Here are two of those stories that I thought were worth passing on:

1. “I wanted to share with you how truly lucky the staff, students, and families are here at Phoenix. Yesterday one of our new 7th graders had issues getting logged on for class. Sean Flynn (principal) immediately offered to drive to the student’s house to help him.  The secretary and I mentioned we thought he may be at a different location. We verified he was not home but at his grandmother’s house in Delaware 30 minutes away. That did not deter Sean. He drove to Delaware and helped the student figure it all out. Talk about going above and beyond. He is always a calm presence. He is approachable and kind to all. Phoenix and Worthington are lucky to have him. Sometimes it is easy to focus on the negative stuff but it is so important to acknowledge the good stuff too. It truly was so impressive to see his kindness and dedication.  That is why I wanted to share this with you. Thanks for your time and have a great day!”

2. “So I’m in my office at home around 4:30 or so this afternoon and someone is on my front walk – I’m leading a call so I can’t answer the door … the bell doesn’t ring so I figure it’s someone putting a flyer on the doorknob.

Turns out it’s Brendan’s math teacher dropping packets to her students – they got back from the printer too late to include in last week’s materials pickup!

So she is delivering – to every student … at their home …!!!

I’m just guessing this kind of stuff is happening all over these days … not just at Worthington Kilbourne.

There is absolutely no substitute for GREAT TEACHERS!”

Good stuff!  We all see what we want to see in life.  This week I hope we can all choose to focus on the positive all around us instead of the negative.  I’m constantly impressed by the level of dedication our team members in Worthington display. If you see someone going above and beyond, please share it with us or maybe even put something positive on your social media.  Collectively we’ll all be better off when we choose to focus on the good things happening throughout our community.

Let’s make it a great week in Worthington!

-Trent Bowers, Superintendent

Worthington School Year Update

It’s been a great first few days of remote learning in Worthington Schools!  Overwhelmingly our community recognizes the work of our teachers and staff members in creating a robust remote learning experience for our kids.  I appreciate the investment of our teachers in making this work.  That said, we know that remote learning is difficult for many students and doesn’t provide the social-emotional aspects, or the structural aspects, that are important in a student’s school experience.  Our desire is to get students into school.  As a community, we’re clearly divided on when that should be.

At last night’s Board of Education meeting, the board set a transition-to-hybrid-learning date of September 29th.  (Monday, September 28th is Yom Kippur, and out of respect for our Jewish families we don’t want to transition on that day.  The 28th will still be a remote learning day.) It’s clear that this Board of Education is concerned about creating consistency and making sure we don’t move too quickly in regards to changing virus numbers.  I acknowledge that concern.  Additionally, I think we all desire to have students back working in schools with our teachers but want to make sure we’re doing so as safely as possible.   We’ll continue to talk daily with Columbus Public Health and by Thursday, September 24th we will make a final decision on mode.  By waiting until September 29th we do have the advantage of seeing what works and doesn’t work with surrounding districts. We can hopefully avoid bringing students in only to have to move quickly back to remote learning, and we can troubleshoot any classrooms and other school spaces. 

I’ll acknowledge upfront that this recommendation will likely make no one happy.  Those who believe we should be in school believe that should happen asap and have the data to back up that course of action. Those who believe we should remain remote will likely not be happy with September 29th either as they wanted the full quarter to be remote and they also have the data to back their desired action up.  Meeting in the middle is not the ultimate goal but in a community clearly divided sometimes we all need to give a little.  While this is not my originally desired approach, the Board of Education and Superintendent relationship is a system of checks and balances and while I, and others, may have desired to go back sooner many others wanted to stay remote and that system of checks and balances works to bring us to the middle. I believe this is a cautious approach I can support while acknowledging my desire to bring our students to school.

As the Haitian proverb puts it: Behind mountains are more mountains. One does not overcome one obstacle only to enter the land of no obstacles. Thus we’re overcoming the remote learning obstacles this week and have a month to overcome the obstacles in regards to hybrid learning.  As we think more about hybrid learning you’ll want to view the protocols and information we have put together to help answer your questions.  https://www.worthington.k12.oh.us/Page/4288 Over the next few weeks we’ll add to this daily so our community feels as prepared as possible for in-class learning on September 29th.

-Trent Bowers, Superintendent 

One Beautiful Night

COVID-19 has changed much of our daily lives.  Back in March when everything was shut down, our Spring athletes in lacrosse, baseball, boys volleyball, and track and field all lost their seasons.  For all of us sports end at some point but it was heartbreaking for our seniors and their families to miss their seasons.  This summer our athletes worked in pods but competition was outlawed.  We were hopeful to get to play this fall but much less than certain we would.  Then in late July, I made the decision to suspend sports.  It was a terrible, no good, very bad ten days!  So with all of that in mind, last night for the first time in a very long time, and with no indication of how long it may last, all seemed right with the world!

At Thomas Worthington, the Cardinal football team was at home.  The marching band led by Kate Stone played the alma mater before the game.  The cheerleaders led the team onto the field with flags flying high.  And the Cardinals played good football.  It was fun to see Isaac Settles back on the football field running away from the pack.  I watched Sam Carver block his man 15 yards down field and Reese Dykstra make seemingly every other tackle.  Coach Piccetti earned his first career win as a head coach.

Worthington Kilbourne traveled to Canal Winchester to play a team that most had ranked in the top ten in Central Ohio.  Mitchell Tomasek and Cayden Dougherty were an unstoppable pair on offense.  Big number 75, Luke Brown, scooped up a fumble and returned it into the end zone for a game changing touchdown.  When Luke is my age (47) I believe he’ll remember that singular play and the joy he experienced with his teammates.  Kilbourne came away with a big win!

And that’s what it’s all about.  It’s about our kids making memories that they’ll keep with them forever.  These games won’t define their lives.  But the positive memories they create will stick with them and we want to create as many of those positive memories as we can.

This week I was able to watch field hockey, boys and girls soccer, cross country, freshman football and a varsity football game.  Our athletes are working hard and having success.  Our fans have adapted to socially distancing, masks, spectator reductions and the lack of concessions.  There are still many unknowns about the viability of our seasons.  But regardless, this week and last night, made everything we’ve gone through to get to this point worth it.

Go Cards! Go Wolves!

-Trent Bowers, Superintendent

A Conversation with Ryan Danley

“When we can’t change the situation we are challenged to change ourselves” – Victor Frankl / Ryan Danley

https://youtu.be/erV4F1kUym8

In the Old Testament of the Christian Bible and in the Ketuvim Writings of the Hebrew Bible there is a book titled Esther. Esther is the Jewish Queen of the Persian Empire and in chapter 4 of the book she learns of the plot of her husband’s Prime Minister, Haman, to exterminate the Jews in the empire with the permission of the King.  Esther is heartbroken and terrified.  But she learns that she was likely put in this position in order to stop it.  The book says “for such a time as this.”

Sometimes in your life you come across a person who makes a profound difference in how you see the world.  This summer I was lucky enough to meet just such a person in Ryan Danley.  I believe Ryan’s story is for such a time as this.  

Normally as we begin a school year all 1300 of our Worthington Schools team members jam into the auditorium at Thomas Worthington High School and we begin our school year together.  We play some music, we enjoy being back together and I have an opportunity to speak and set the tone for the new year.  Obviously in the age of COVID-19 we can’t come together as we normally do.  So we filmed our important messages and instead of me talking this year for 15-20 minutes I thought it would be more relevant to hear Ryan Danley’s story.

Ryan and I are both Worthington graduates.  We both went to school at one time in the Kilbourne building and in the Thomas Worthington building.  We both played football for the Cardinals and we both went to college in Indiana and married Indiana girls.  We live within four miles of one another today.  We have a lot in common.  

At the same time, Ryan is black and I am white.  Ryan is handicapped and I am able-bodied.  We have a lot in common so we see many things from a similar lens but our differences cause us to see some things through different lenses.

Ryan Danley is a 2007 graduate of Thomas Worthington High School.  He graduated from Butler University in 2011, married his amazing wife Kelsey, and is currently employed in Human Resources at Honda of America.  In January of 2019 Ryan experienced a life-altering accident.  How he’s dealing with that change, how his accident has helped him better understand the perspectives of others, how he’s training his mind, and how talking with Ryan has helped me better understand others is the subject of our conversation.

I’m incredibly grateful for Ryan’s willingness to sit down and talk with me.  I’m proud of Ryan for living a life worth emulating.  For being positive and for using his hardships to help others navigate their own lives.  Ryan’s words are incredibly profound and I personally took notes after our conversation. I’ve included those notes here for you to see.

This year in Worthington Schools we’re embarking on a great challenge.  We’re entering a school year like we’ve never seen. School in the age of the Coronavirus while we also endeavor to create a more racially just school district.  I think Ryan has set the example for all of us.  He’s said yes to the hard things.  He’s said yes to working to overcome his injuries.  He’s said yes to having conversations about racial justice.  He’s said yes to being positive when he had every reason to do otherwise.  He said yes to sitting and talking with me…

This year in Worthington Schools we all need to say yes to doing the hard things.  I can’t say what this year holds for any of us.  But if we’re positive, can-do in our attitude, and if we really seek to understand one another and the students we serve we’ll have a great year.

-Trent Bowers, Superintendent

P.S.  If you’d like to learn more about Ryan and support his recovery and efforts at positive change check out: https://www.whynot-me.com/

Data in Franklin County is Improving

Monday evening at our Worthington Board of Education meeting the board affirmed and formally adopted our Responsible Restart Plan.  The plan that was formally adopted outlined that based upon the recommendations from Columbus Public Health (CPH) that we would begin the year remotely.  In an effort to provide certainty for our families and for our teachers we committed to staying remotely until October 30th.

Prior to the adoption of the plan our board heard a presentation from a representative of Columbus Public Health.  When asked directly about the CPH recommendation of “No in-person learning until our community sees four consecutive weeks of a downward trend in new cases,” he stated that we had seen some decline. The board asked several times about this recommendation but left unsure when CPH would recommend that in-class learning resumes.

Tuesday morning Dr. Roberts, the Director of Columbus Public Health, shared with Franklin County Superintendents that she has seen three weeks of downward trend in new cases and that with one more week in the same direction, we may have met her recommendation.  Thus the data is improving much more rapidly than we were led to believe it would.  While this is good news for the health of our community, it makes it challenging to communicate to our Worthington families with certainty. 

As we have shared, we want to provide families with information that is accurate and reliable. COVID-19 has created a roller coaster of data and recommendations which has made definitive decisions for a school district difficult. I think it’s fair to say we’ve struggled to navigate this.

This week we sent remote learning schedules to all families.  We’re ready to begin in that mode and that’s still the approved plan.  However, as a school district, we have said from the beginning that we desire to have our students in school.  To meet Ohio’s Responsible Restart guidelines and socially distance that likely means a hybrid mode of schooling.  If such a mode is deemed safe by public health, we feel like that’s our responsibility.  Thus, I don’t believe we can continue to provide the certainty of staying remote until October 30th.  If the data allows for in-person schooling we’ll re-evaluate what the Board of Education approved just this Monday night.

If the data trend continues to decline for the fourth straight week and CPH modifies their recommendations based upon that trend, the Board of Education would call a special meeting to discuss how Worthington Schools best responds.  On one hand this is great news!  On another hand, it obviously creates more uncertainty and makes planning hard for everyone.

We recognize that some of you may have chosen to stay in Worthington Schools because we had committed to being online until October 30th.  If you fall in that category we will be extending our deadline to register for the Worthington Online Learning Academy until August 19th (emails this week said August 12th).  If you need certainty for the mode of learning for the semester this will be your best option.  

I’m not saying that we’re going to make a change to our plan.  But, if the data continues to improve throughout Franklin County I do believe it’s something that the board of education will need to consider and if you are counting on us being online I want you to have time to make a decision for your family.

We knew we needed to be prepared to adapt this year as the situation continues to evolve.  We’ll be prepared as a district to do so.   

-Trent Bowers, Superintendent

Athletics and Band

On July 30th I made the decision to suspend athletics based upon the recommendation of Columbus Public Health.  Since that time Worthington Schools has worked diligently to try and work through the maze of seemingly conflicting information that guides Ohio athletics during this unprecedented time:

Here is what we know:

• The Director of the Ohio Department of Health authorizes certain activities for contact and non-contact sports.  In his order dated August 1, 2020, the Interim Director of Health authorized contact practice to begin for all sports.  Intra-team scrimmages and contests are currently limited to non-contact sports, unless the contact sports team complies with Section 10 of the Order.  We have heard that Section 10 may be removed from the Order in the near future but that remains to be seen.
• The Ohio High School Athletic Association has issued guidance that supplements the ODH August 1, 2020 Order.
• Franklin County Public Health issued two communications which outline FCPH’s recommendations.  The first communication, issued July 29, 2020, discusses that extracurricular activities be discontinued.  The second communication, dated August 3, 2020, describes the basis for the July 29 recommendation, distinguishes between “orders” and “recommendations.”  In addition, and despite its recommendation, FCPH describes how it will continue working with schools.  FCPH provides additional advice” if a school decides to have extracurricular activities, including placing students in cohort groups of 9 or less with a staff member and following OHSAA and state guidelines.
• Columbus Public Health issued recommendations advising districts to discontinue athletics.

Worthington Schools also worked to make certain our insurance carrier was apprised of the various orders and recommendations in an attempt to limit community liability.

We believe it is in the best interest of our athletes and our community to follow public health guidance.  Obviously, the challenge is that the guidance has not been consistent.  Based upon our review of all orders and recommendations we believe getting our athletes back on the field in a safe and responsible way is in their best interest from an athletic and social emotional perspective. 

In order to be responsible, all athletes will be asked to have a signed waiver by their guardian.  When fans eventually are able to watch athletics we’ll ask fans to sign waivers as well.  Furthermore, coaches will submit to training in order to meet the ODH guidelines.  Worthington Schools will allow non-contact sports (as defined by the ODH order) to begin immediately.  Contact sports (as defined by the ODH order) will come back in pods.  Competition may or may not be possible for our contact sports this year depending upon future ODH orders.  Band will begin working with musicians in pods.

I recognize that this process of due diligence has taken longer than we would have liked it to and has impacted all of our athletes but I’m especially sorry to our golfers who missed scheduled competitions.  We’re in a time where we’re dealing with things that haven’t been dealt with in our lifetime.  I’m certain that there will be many more challenges as seasons progress and I don’t expect much will be as it normally has been in the past.  Please bear with us as we seek to provide the balance of safety and opportunity.

Individual coaches and directors will follow-up after this communication with specific communication regarding their activity and schedules.  There is an OCC middle school meeting next week and we’ll evaluate a safe and responsible middle school sports programs after discussing this at a conference level.  More middle school information will come from schools in the next few weeks.  

-Trent Bowers, Superintendent