Update for May 18, 2010

It really is hard to believe that the 2009-2010 school year is rapidly drawing to a close. We had a wonderful graduation last Saturday evening honoring the class of 2010 and our 125th graduation from Newton High School. It appears to me that the seniors look younger every year only, please don’t tell them that.

This has certainly been a year of ups and downs. Despite the economic and budget turmoil, our staff members have worked their magic with students and teaching and learning of high quality has continued in USD 373. And, while it appears that we will be down nearly three million dollars by the start of the next school year from the onset of the budget reductions, I believe we have been fiscally very responsible and our goal has been not only to maintain employment for all of our staff but to maintain quality education. It is, after all, the primary reason that many of us entered the education profession to begin with; our desire to make a difference in the lives of our students and contribute to the future of our community, state and nation.

So this blog is really a salute to our staff for their fine work this year. Every staff member has been important and every staff member has helped to make a difference for all of our students. We will miss our retirees and those who are leaving us for other opportunities; we will welcome those new to us in August. And, we will look forward to Graduation 2011 in May 2011! What an awesome and humbling experience it is to be an educator in 2010. Thank you for everything.