Greetings from Winfield City Schools,
My name is Randy Thomley, and I serve as the Superintendent for Winfield City Schools. I would like to begin our 2022-23 school year with a blog. My plans are to share this blog twice per month in an effort to have dialogue with our families in our community. This is new for me and it is my purpose to share some thoughts that might in some way help or inspire those who read this to partner together with our school district to help enrich the lives of our children. So welcome to the maiden voyage of the Superintendent’s Corner.
About two weekends ago, I cut the grass at my house. Nothing spectacular here as it is a task that many other men or women do at their home. However, I noticed something on this particular day that made me reflect about parenting. I have two large holly bushes on each side of my house. On this particular day a blue jay came out from the holly bush where I was cutting grass and perched on the side of the roof of our house. As I continued to mow the lawn, the blue jay would fly down to the ground in search of insects. It occurred to me that the mother bird was looking for food for her young. She gave no thought or worry to the large cub cadet lawn mower or me as I made my circular rotations. When I got close to her she simply flew back to the corner roof and waited until she could begin again. That blue jay gave no thought or care about herself. She simply sought out what was needed for her young. She could not comprehend what was going on. Her mission was simple, take care of my young.
We often don’t always understand the obstacles that can get in our way as well as we try to provide for the needs of our children. Sometimes they probably seem like the big yellow cub cadet and we probably feel like the tiny blue jay. Nonetheless, we continue to do everything we can despite our fears or uncertainty to love on and help our children. Please remember that there will be obstacles that will come your way when you raise children. We do not wish to be one of those obstacles as a school district. I want to personally encourage you to reach out through the proper channels when something is a concern for your child and his or her relationship with our schools. You can schedule a conference with a teacher or coach through our school offices. This can be followed by a meeting with the administration if things are not resolved. In each instance, let us be the corner of the roof where you find comfort as you seek to find the solutions to help your child or children. I hope that you and your family all have a wonderful school year!