“School should be the best party in town.”
-Peter Kline
Paraskavedekatriaphobia. Yes, that is an actual word. It means the fear of Friday the thirteenth. This Weekly Howl blurb has nothing to do with paraskavedekatriaphobia, but today is Friday the 13th and paraskavedekatriaphobia is such a ridiculous word, I felt compelled to include it.

Today’s Weekly Howl is about the opposite of the unluckiness of Friday the 13th: today feels like it is full of good fortune.

We are halfway through spring, but somehow this past week has felt the springiest. The weather has been sunny and warm; the trees and shrubberies are full (and weeds have poked up everywhere). Yesterday after school, there were students all over for Elementary After School Activities and Middle School/High School CEESA athletics and activities. Later in the evening, the campus was abuzz with students and families coming for the ES Music and Arts event and the Addiction Talk (helping parents talk to their kids about drugs and alcohol). Tonight and this weekend we are hosting the MS Boys Volleyball Tournament and the AAS Students TEDx event. The campus will be abuzz through the weekend as well.

The calendar for the 6 weeks ahead leading to the last day of school will be even more full of fun events and activities. It is an exciting time, if a bit frenetic.

Last night I talked with many parents, and the theme was always the same: it is wonderful to have so many events and activities happening. In some of my conversations with parents who have been at AAS since before the 2019-2020 school year, we harkened back to the days when AAS was always abuzz with the energy of events and activities. In my conversations with the parents who have come to AAS in the past couple of years, I shared that last night’s energy has been the norm for far more many years than it has been the exception.

ES Principal, Dr. Horne, and I have talked about how different his first few years at AAS have been compared to what my experience has been. Like many others, he has not seen the PTO International Fair (formerly known as Summerfest and more formerly known as the Spring Fair), or a large CEESA event, or even a spring ES Music and Arts evening with a full house of family members in the audience (until last night).

In my mind, there is nothing better than the AAS campus filled with the inspiring energy of students and families at special events and activities. Whether you are newer to AAS and have not been a part of the abuzzness in the past, or you have been at AAS for many years and cannot wait for the events and activities to return, I look forward to enjoying exciting weeks to come with you!

“If I’m watching my son play soccer, that’s what I’m doing.
If I’m going to a school concert, that’s what I’m doing. I turn the phone off. I actively tune into whatever I’m doing. I walk every evening with one of my sons and for that half an hour, 45 minutes, that’s what I’m doing.”
-Gail Kelly