September has finally brought some rain and brought down temperatures for a few days!  With September comes the beginning of school camp visits, as well as Book Fairs at schools and planning for walk-a-thons.  It’s an exciting time to work with children and their families.

City Park will be having their fall pictures made tomorrow.  I’m sure parents are getting ready for this important day.  Do you ever go back and look at your school pictures?  That can be a real eye-opening moment!  I often wonder why my mom let me out looking like that!

Ingleside will be hosting “Grandparents Day” this Friday, September 9^th. They always have a huge turnout for this – and you’ll want to make your reservations. 

Walk-a-Thons are scheduled at City Park, Ingleside, and North City during September and early October.  Parents are asked to sponsor their child in walking for continued time limits.  The funds raised through this are used to help the school.  This is usually the only fundraiser at those sites.  We’ll keep you posted on when these begin.

Last week’s seminar on motivation for students was a huge success!  Mrs. Lofland was excited at the great response for the event and the quality of information shared with parents.  There is a seminar scheduled at the end of September on “Cyber bullying”. There will be more on that later.

Athens Middle School has a week full of athletic events lined up.  On Thursday, September 8, there will be home matches in Tennis (4:30), Soccer (5 p.m.) and Softball (4:45).   Cross Country has an away match at CCS (4:30).  On Monday, September 12, Tennis is at home at 4:15 and Soccer is away at Chilhowee at 5 p.m.  On Tuesday, September 13, Softball is away at Meigs Middle at 5 p.m., and Soccer is at home at 4:30 p.m.

September is National Preparedness Month.  All of us have heard the old adage, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”  An important group in our schools’ is the School Safety Committee.  This group of counselors, administrators, and teachers meet and design the safety plans for each school site.  Guidelines from law enforcement, fire department and our local emergency management office play a part in our system’s overall safety plan. 

An important part of the system’s safety plan relates to various emergency events.  Mock evacuations are held yearly to familiarize students with the proper action during an emergency.  Schools have monthly drills for tornadoes, fire, and lock down procedures.  Our safety committee is pro-active and prepares before an emergency can take place.  State safety grant funds have enabled the system to have things such as walkie-talkies’ for schools, along with other aides.  Each school must be a safe, healthy environment for every child in the building, no matter what the conditions may be.

I hope families have their own plans for safety in cases of emergency.  We all need a plan of how to get out of our homes, in case of fire, and where we’re to meet.  In times of emergency, a clear head needs a good plan to follow!

Enjoy the cooler weather ------and stay prepared!