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. 

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.