Regardless of Monday morning’s single digit temperatures along the path around the Falls, a couple of factors brought a little offsetting warmth for many people.
First, the surprisingly resounding Green Bay Packers win Sunday evening was enough to make almost every fan’s start to the work week a warm one.
The game was one for the “gold package” season ticket holders. These are the season tickets for the games that used to be played in Milwaukee. After the first major renovation to Lambeau Field, all the home games were moved to Green Bay. The gold package includes only one preseason and two regular season games.
Some suggest that the Milwaukee ticket games are a little more subdued because many of the fans holding those tickets still live in Milwaukee, and because of travel back and forth, they tend to do a little less partying prior to and after the games.
Even though the Milwaukee ticket holders may consider themselves a little short-changed with fewer games at Lambeau, each and every one got their money’s worth Sunday with a record-setting performance by the team.
The second factor that might have added to a warm feeling was no classes were scheduled in Oconto Falls area schools.
For the record, Monday’s cancellation of classes had nothing to do with a national holiday to kick off American Education Week, Nov. 17-21. The day off had to do with the scheduling a full day of teacher in-service at a good point in the school year. Teachers took a break from teaching to dig in and get some things done. Each school building scheduled a day’s activity centered on training on Educator Effectiveness, testing and data analysis, and a few other building-specific items.
Going back to 1921, American Education Week was set aside as a time to show appreciation for educators and say thanks, which seems especially appropriate given the fact that we are less than two weeks away from the Thanksgiving holiday. We would like to do a little blending and reflect on the two themes.
Educators, especially those in Wisconsin, might feel a little underappreciated, given Act 10 and all that came after it. For some in the education business, the recent election results might have added to that feeling, but the situation is a lot brighter than it might seem.
Last week we heard a quote from a Milwaukee Journal reporter who said, “For educators, it would be very easy to be depressed and pack it all in. But it’s so important now, more than ever, that you don’t.”
At a time when things look tough, teachers, especially in our district, are not making excuses but are rolling up their sleeves and getting things done.
Many of the activities Monday were about sharing the good things that have been accomplished recently. In Abrams, elementary Principal Joanne Michalski’s first item on her Monday schedule was “Teachers celebrate how much they have done already this year.”
We have great people working for the district. We have a great community in which we work. The recent referendum was a vote of confidence in the work that we are doing. We have a lot for which to be thankful.
One of the things we need to do more is to tell stories about the good things happening in our schools. There is a lot to share. This weekend’s musical production was another chance to connect and share the message about good things happening in our schools. It was great that many community members joined us to see many students shine in a much different light.
We never say thanks often enough. Sometimes that thanks comes out of the blue, years after a student has passed through our classrooms. Those can be the most heartwarming words of thanks.
If we had the power, we would establish a national holiday to thank all our great educators. Pretend that was the case on Monday. If you missed the chance to do so on Monday, it’s not too late. Make it a point to thank a teacher before we break for Thanksgiving. We guarantee you will feel a little warmer after you make that contact.
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