Dr. David Hopson
Gateway, and particularly our staff and students, appreciated the opportunity to host the 20th Holiday Brunch and Concert for senior citizens from our seven towns. Despite the rain, the atmosphere inside the school was festive and joyous. I was very pleased by the many positive comments from our guests regarding many aspects of this event. I’ll take this opportunity to pass on to our student ‘hosts’ the many compliments regarding their appearance, their courtesy, and above all, their positive attitude. Far too often we read, or hear, some of the more ‘newsworthy’ items happening in the world, which generally seem to be negative in nature. We rarely take the time to reflect on the positive, perhaps because we take it for granted, or maybe it’s because good things happen so often that they are not newsworthy. However, in a political atmosphere that has little good to say about education in general, and staff and students specifically, passing along what people with a lifetime’s experience have to say in support of our students is certainly a worthwhile activity.
Over the years you’ve read of my support and compliments to our food service staff, a group of employees who are local residents that take pride in the job they do, and do well. It’s always a pleasure to hear an outside group praise these folks and the job they do and there were many compliments regarding the brunch served this day. I often read of the issues facing other districts who have moved to an outside, private entity to run their food services and am pleased, based upon the service, responsiveness, and efficiency of our own food service staff, that we have not moved in that direction. I still think it’s amazing to smell the wonderful scents of fresh-baked bread, rolls, and goodies that come from our cafeteria.
I would also like to thank the many, many local businesses that provided door prizes for our 20th anniversary event. Despite these difficult economic times, area business owners were generous in their contributions, and did not hesitate to participate. On behalf of our schools and area residents, I thank them for their unflagging support—in not only this event, but for their support of MANY school and district-wide events throughout the year.
The last piece of this outstanding program was the musical entertainment put on by students from elementary to high school. I know this is always a highlight of the event and is eagerly awaited by all of our guests. For those of you who were unable to attend, or didn’t ‘qualify’ for the senior citizen holiday brunch, you still have the opportunity to participate in a holiday concert. In fact, you have several opportunities including the elementary schools on December 16th (6:30 p.m.), and the high school on December 19th (7:00 p.m.). These are certainly worth attending and those who get the chance to see all three performances will see the meaning of progression and growth by experiencing the increasing complexity of the music, and dexterity of these young musicians, as they move from elementary to high school. This visual and auditory ‘trip’ mirrors the academic, social, and physical growth of our students as they move through the grades. Without a doubt, these musical performances are a wonderful addition to your holiday season. Having heard snippets from practices, performances, and watching our jazz band perform for the Connecticut Valley Superintendent’s meeting, I know that you’ll see some great performances – just ask any of the guests at last week’s Senior Holiday Brunch for a first hand appraisal!
I also want to take this opportunity to recognize, and give praise, to our jazz band. As I just mentioned, they played for local superintendents last week. The superintendents are certainly an august group who work with youth in many capacities and are thus eminently qualified to comment on the performance of high school performers. I was pleased, although not at all surprised, to hear so many positive comments on our jazz band. As with our guests at the holiday brunch, their comments were similar – a well-behaved, well dressed, positive group of students who also played extremely well – another set of eyes seeing the jewels that glitter not only in the Gateway Schools, but throughout the Commonwealth. I hope that everyone gets the opportunity to see, and experience, the many positive things that are happening on a daily basis in what is an excellent public education system that does much more than just prepare children academically for the life that lies ahead for each of them.
