Sunday, May 14, 2017

PPC Season 8 Winners

Saturday on my weekend long run, I literally "ran" into John Lowry on the Shades Creek Greenway.  He stuck out his hand, smiled and continued on his run and path to wellness.  That is a perfect example of what SCES has done on a consistent basis for the eight years of the Patriot Point Challenge.  The Patriot Pack Leader (PPL) there at SCES has a similar mindset.  If you know Genie Christian, you know that she is always good for a smile and continues on a consistent basis to lead, guide and direct the SCES team to success.  In the eight years of our PPC we have had only three teams rise to the top of the list.  HHS, HBOE and SCES.  All of the teams have enjoyed success along the way but overall, SCES has been on top more than any other team in our district.  Something special is happening at SCES.  Congratulations to all of the employees who continue to compete weekly to be the best they can be for themselves, their families and as a model of wellness for students on a daily basis.

Stepping back and looking at our school district as a whole, and as one big team of educators, HCS employees are way ahead of other school districts in the area of wellness.  We have a focus on wellness as part of our strategic plan, we talk about wellness in a positive light and we have a plan to encourage each employee to be their best so we can influence the students to be their best.  An example of our district being a leader in wellness was evident at Bham Corporate Challenge.  I spoke with the director of BCC, who explained to me that she had reached out to other Over The Mountain schools to try to get them on board to compete at BCC but could never get anyone to step up and commit.  We have made that commitment on a much broader scale.  We are committed to being the best.

Looking forward to the summer months I encourage each of you to take time away from school-work but spend some extra time in your pursuit of a healthy lifestyle.  Don't think of wellness as something you have to achieve in a certain time frame.  It's a lifetime pursuit not a countdown to a goal.  The goals you set should include steps toward improvement instead of a final achievement.  Come back for the next school year having improved in some area of wellness.  Taking a page from Edgewood Elementary's mantra, "Be the best me, I can be."  See ya next year!

Keep Moving...

Final Individual Leaderboard. 

Monday, May 8, 2017

We Love Homewood Recap and Final Chance to Post Patriot Points

Our end of the school year celebration of our city was a huge success.  We Love Homewood Day, once again, proved that Homewoodians really do love Homewood.  Congratulations to all of the finishers of the WLHWD 5K.  Lucas Lamb, one of our HHS students and cross country stars, won the overall race with a finish time of 17:34 which is a 5:39 pace.  The course record in the female division was broken this year by Hannah Cutshall, who came all the way from Nashville, TN to participate in our event.   We even had some award winners from our employees-Laura Mitchell and Pam White won their age divisions.   Here are the overall results.

Check out this video of the shotgun start sponsored by Coach Carter Doyle and the Duck's Unlimited Club at HHS.
Special thanks to Lisa Vickery who dedicates countless hours each year to this event as the technician behind all the technology, the organizer of registration and packet pickup and so much more.  She wants to be a behind-the-scenes assistant but in all honesty she is co-race director and keeps me on track every step of the way.  If you see Lisa today, offer her a chair.  She was on her feet many, many hours this weekend!

Thanks to all of the volunteers, including the band parents and staff but especially those people who aren't a part of the fine arts staff but come out each year to assist with our race.  Genie Christian, Laeri Boyd, Melonie McBrayer, Rebecca Shields, Georgia Miller, Merrick Wilson, Katie Tanguay, Jaz Powers and HHS girls' basketball, Michelle Cooley and HHS Patriot Pride.

Congratulations to SCES for winning week #32 of the PPC.
This will be the final chance to post Patriot Points this year.  Click HERE to post your points.

Click HERE to see Week 32 Leaderboard.

Saturday, April 29, 2017

BCC Results and We Love HWD 5K THIS WEEK!

Bham Corporate Challenge
Thanks to all of the participants in this year's Bham Corporate Challenge.  We are the only school district that has stepped up to the challenge in the three-year history of this field day for employees.  We didn't place in the top three overall but we did win big in the following categories:

Bowling- 2nd Place
Obstacle Course-3rd Place
Dodgeball-2nd Place
Home run Derby-3rd Place

Click this video link and use the password: "park" to view the BCC highlight video from Knight/Eady.

Participants please complete a brief survey for BCC.  Knight/Eady, the team that created BCC, are both Homewood families.  It's great that we support their project and are willing to provide honest feedback.



MAY 6th at 7:30AM

This is the week we celebrate our city!  Homewood is a special place and the We Love Homewood Festival is such an awesome way to come together as a community and show some love.  The We Love Homewood 5K is the starting line for the day.  The race is walker friendly but this year also features chip timing just in case you are looking for a PR.  Click here for a course preview.


Don't miss out on the fun!  The post race party aka We Love Homewood Festival is INCREDIBLE!  Family friendly with stuff for the kids and the kid in you.  Carnival, bake sale, silent auction, live music, pep rally, parade and street dance/concert featuring Bonus Round!  

Here are some pics from last year's race:













Saturday, April 22, 2017

BHam Corporate Challenge, WE ARE A LEGIT CONTENDER!




If you were part of BCC this year, you know how tough the competition was.  If you weren't there you missed an amazing event, fun time and great competition.  Talk to the folks who participated and go ahead and make plans to help our team out next year.  We will know our overall standings after the awards ceremony this Thursday.  I'll Tweet it and email it as soon as the results are in.  Shout-out to our Dodgeball Team who, once again proved that teachers have class!  We played through the loser's bracket all the way to the CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND of the winner's bracket and finished as the overall runner-up team in the biggest and baddest division.  Check out the BCC highlight video to see our athletes in action!  




Our next event is the www.welovehomewood5k.com  Be sure you register for this fun 5K.  Proceeds will support our fine arts program.  Don't miss out on the fun at We Love Homewood 2017!


Winners of the PPC for week 30 is Edgewood!

Individual Leaderboard for Week 30.

Post your Patriot Points HERE

Saturday, April 15, 2017

BCC Week and Deadline for We Love Homewood 5K t-shirt


Birmingham Corporate Challenge
This is a big week for us!  81 employees have taken on the Bham Corporate Challenge.  If you haven't signed up to help our our team I can still get your name on the roster for the participation events which include the bike stroll, one mile walk and jump rope challenge.  Our team needs YOU!  Good luck to all participants in this year's competition.  Please wear your BCC shirt from last year or any Homewood gear to represent our school system.  Participants will get an email from me on Tuesday of this week explaining final details of the competition, timing of events etc.  Please carefully read that email!


T-shirt Deadline is Friday, 4/21

Best t-shirt ever.  Most fun you will ever have walking or running a 5K.  Great way to end the school year.  Awesome way to celebrate our city.  Have you registered for this year's end of the school year party aka the We Love Homewood 5K?  If not, do that NOW!  Don't wanna run or walk?  That's ok, you can still score an awesome shirt.  Just visit our online store at www.welovehomewood5k.com to buy a shirt and/or register for the 5K.  Don't mis out!!!  


BEST OF THE BEST:  Individual Leaderboard for Week #29

SCES Wins Week #29!  Go Owls!!  The trophy travels back up Hwy 31 to the Owl's Nest.

Post your Patriot Points for Week 30, CLICK HERE.