It's all about Music

admin — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 00:54:00 -0500

I do urge you, however, to take some time in this busy season to reflect on what you have to be thankful for and think about the people who have made or make a difference in your life.

We often claim that we are thankful for our faith, friends and family, but many times we fail to show it. So take some time during this busy season and show your appreciation for the special things and people in your life.

Speaking of special people, we have a lot of those in the Manassas City Public Schools (I hope you like the smooth segue). This week, AdvancED, a global education network which accredits schools around the world, visited Manassas as part of an accreditation process. On Wednesday, AdvancED issued a preliminary report which rates Manassas City Public Schools as accredited. Congratulations to the School Division for this accomplishment. Congratulations also to the Music Department and Music students at OHS for putting on a great show at Fine Arts Day on Friday morning. The Metz students in attendance were definitely entertained.

Staying with the music theme, the Metz Choir and the OHS Choirs also had entertaining holiday concerts this week. And, I don't plan to generally take requests for blog material, but a certain School Board member asked me to make sure to mention that people should vote every day to get money for our OHS Band Program by texting 110404 to 73774 or casting your vote online http://www.refresheverything.com/osbournbanduniforms.

While I was watching the boys and girls varsity basketball doubleheader at Osbourn Park tonight, another Board member mentioned to me that the OHS crowd was much bigger than OP's crowd. He was right. That support illustrates a great community spirit. If we can use that spirit in addressing all our challenges, the sky is the limit for MCPS.

That spirit is exemplified in Coach Steve Schultze, who announced earlier this week that he was resigning as OHS football coach (he will continue to teach at OHS). Coach Schultze took a football program which had been winless to a victory in the state championship. That is a cool accomplishment, but what's more important to me is that Coach Schultze cares about his players, and he encourages them to strive to be the best people they could be. His mantra "Nothing But Greatness" inspired many players, including my son, on and off the field.

I commend and thank Coach Schultze for his dedication and compassion, and I wish him and his family well as he embarks on his next endeavors.

If you are looking for something to do this weekend, there are 4 Christmas concerts this weekend at Manassas Assembly of God. The theme of the concerts is "Imagine Christmas." I did not mention the concerts because someone in my house is in the Choir there. OK, maybe that did have something to do with it, but I want to keep my wife happy. And don't act like any of you married folks wouldn't do the same thing. Finally, I thank you if you have read this entire blog entry.

My quote for this entry is from the music artist Drake (I preface this quote entry by stating that I am not encouraging anyone under the age of 18 to listen to Drake's music. I am over the age of 18 however and I happen to like it, hence the quote. Have a great weekend!):"Everybody dies but not everybody lives" - Nicki Minaj featuring Drake - Moment 4 Life

My First Blog Post

admin — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0500

I thank the Patch for the opportunity to blog about our school system. Manassas City Schools are not perfect. However, there are a lot of great things going on in our schools that are not noticed and not appreciated. And we have many great teachers, staff and administrators who pour their hearts into working for our kids. My goal is for this blog to represent an honest evaluation of our system, while helping bring some of those great things and people to light.

For example, on the School Board side, 2 weeks ago members of the School Board and Superintendent Gail Pope travelled to Williamsburg to attend the annual Virginia School Boards Association (VSBA) Conference. We networked with members of other School Boards in Virginia, met with representatives of the Virginia State Board of Education and attended seminars. The Manassas City contingent was invigorated and inspired to improve our school system. I was especially intrigued by a seminar about social networking (such as Twitter and Facebook), and its use by school systems. So many people participate in social networks, school systems must evaluate if they will use these tools to communicate with students, their families and the community.

There is always a lot going on in our schools, especially this time of year. Yesterday, our Scholastic Bowl team was scheduled to compete at Stonewall Jackson High School. Over the next week, there is a Winter Music Concert at Metz at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 7, a Winter Choral Concert at Osbourn at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 8 (the Fall Concert was phenomenal), and a plethora of Osbourn sporting events (congratulations to Mikal Johnson for scoring her 1,000th career point in a girls basketball victory over Brentsville this week), Girls Basketball games at Metz and many other events. Please come out and celebrate our students.

Finally, I think we can learn something from quotes, so I leave you with this:

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." George Bernard Shaw - from his play "Man and Superman"

Sanford's Blog

It's all about Music

My First Blog Post