May 22, 2008
Spring is a grand carousel of activities at Barnesville! Just to tally the events which have already taken place this month (8 separate field trips, lacrosse finals, Willy Wonka Jr., The Emperor’s New Clothes, Volunteer Reception, etc.) and those events to come (Arts & Academics Night, Tech Assembly, Beach Day, Middle School Olympics, Graduation, etc.) can be exhausting! I was reminded of how packed May and June can be as I looked over the final itinerary for the upcoming 8th grade trip to New York City next week. Ms. Barnhart and Mr. Seraile have done a wonderful job preparing our 8th graders (and me!) for the trip next week, and our itinerary is completely packed – a whirlwind three-day tour which includes trips to Wall Street, Greenwich Village, the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Times Square, the Top of the Rock, NBC Studios, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Grant’s Tomb, Madame Tussaud’s Museum, as well as a theater performance of The Lion King. I expected that we will all come away from our trip much like we will finish the school year – enriched, educated…and exhausted!
Speaking of exhaustion, many of us look ahead to this coming Memorial Day weekend as a time for rest and relaxation. Memorial Day can be a day of leisure, to be sure, perhaps even the chance to grab a quick vacation, a first taste of the long stretch of summer to come. But let us also remember the day’s purpose, to commemorate those women and men who have fallen during their military service to our country. And so, to paraphrase the poet Horace, dulce et decorum est eos quos pro patria mortuos sunt honorare. May we all take the time this Memorial Day weekend to pay our respect to those who have fallen, as well as to the soldiers (and their families) who serve us today.