Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

As I write this I am eagerly anticipating the Vermontville Syrup festival and finding my sunscreen since we are planning to have heat and sun which is a great reward after the setbacks over the past two years! If you see me I hope you say hello and take a moment to celebrate our Valley, the great weather, and our marvelous traditions together!

As you begin to plan the spring events you will enjoy in Maple Valley whether it be our graduation ceremonies for 6th or 12th grades or field days or our many athletic contests or any number of other fun events, I wanted to share with you that I hope you will be out and participating in person with us. It was genuinely painful and difficult to have to close things off to each other as we worked to mitigate the virus and keep our schools open for the critical act of learning for our kids. Now, that is not a concern for us and I want to welcome everyone with open arms to come back to our events, our families, and our students as we celebrate all that they accomplish!

When we had to shrink our envelope of engagement for the past couple of years we adjusted and diverted people, resources, and time to help maintain outreach through technology. That was the best we could do in challenging circumstances, but now that we can be together in person again, that is where our resources and human energy are going to be directed. Back to staging, and producing the best in-person events that we can for you.

Our graduation ceremony for the high school will return to normal with our guests in the stands and our kids on the track so all can be easily seen and enjoyed. There will be no restrictions on the number of guests as we had to do in the past, so please invite family and friends to enjoy the celebrations with you.

Another thing that is going back to past practice is a focus on in-person participation. We have limited human resources and capital resources for streaming and recording events, and it has proven to be extremely difficult to do well in outdoor venues. We will continue to make our board meetings accessible to people at home as a one-way video stream through our Google Meet platform. When it comes to our special events, we will revert to our former practice of promoting family use of Facebook live or other methods for sharing with families at a distance. We truly hope everyone will return in person, but if you need to share with a relative or friend who cannot attend, please focus the attention on your own child you choose to celebrate so the viewers at a distance can see them up close and personal. We want to produce the best possible experience for people in person and it is high time that we reengage our community connections as we celebrate together.

We so look forward to having you back with us once again IN PERSON!

See you soon as we celebrate that it is a “Great Time to be in the Valley”!

Dr. Bertolini