The academic year is entering its final stretch. After a winter that had few if any warm spells this spring’s warming is most welcome. It also heralds the last semester at Hayfield Secondary for hundreds of its students. They will graduate on June 17^th, and begin the next phase of their lives. This is an exciting time for them and their families. As the parent of a graduating senior I am quite confident that she has been well-prepared both for college and, more importantly, for life in general. Her six years at Hayfield were productive and rewarding. She and her family were extremely well served by the school and its dedicated staff. We also were well served by the greater Hayfield Secondary community.

To keep this great tradition of graduating well educated and well prepared students alive, our community must be actively involved in the school. And that’s where all of you come in. Your PTSA is assembling a slate of people willing to serve on the Board next year. We can use your help, too. If you are interested – and I strongly encourage you to become or to stay involved in the school – please contact the PTSA and let us know. We’ll then contact you and discuss how best to use your talents, abilities and energy. For a list of the sorts of offices and positions that you might occupy, check our Board on the web site (http://www.hssptsa.org/HSS-PTSA-Board).

If you’ve read PTSA newsletters in the recent past you’ve seen my words about the importance of parents and guardians being involved in their children’s education. There is nothing more critical to their success in school. Nothing. Inside the classroom itself it’s the quality of the educators that matters most. But outside of the classroom, and for all of the hours in the day spent outside of the classroom, there is nothing more important than parental involvement in the schools. Study after study has shown this. And it just makes sense. Our children take their cues from us. What matters to us will matter to them - despite how it might appear (I have a teenager, too!). If we place their school high on our priority list, they will, too.

What better way to do this than to be active in the PTSA? If a Board position isn’t your cup of tea, then resolve to attend some of our monthly meetings. They are all open meetings, and the Board and the school Administrators who attend would all benefit from your attending and speaking to those things that concern and or encourage you about Hayfield.

Our wonderful Principal, Bill Oehrlein, has penned a great spring 2010 update. That, too, can be found on the PTSA web pages. I encourage you to read it. And to stay involved!!

This is my last note as PTSA President, and as a Hayfield parent. I’ve had tremendous support while in office and trust this support will be there next year for whoever succeeds me. My thanks to everyone on the PTSA Board for their help and for being so dedicated to Hayfield and its students. I also want to thank the school and its staff for what they do every day. The school would be an empty shell without them. It takes all of us to make it work, and at Hayfield it works!

Dick Reed
Hayfield Secondary PTSA President
president@hssptsa.org