Dear Friends,

In this, our third installment in our series on the beliefs and core values established in the Honeoye Falls – Lima School District’s Strategic Plan, we focus on valuing, modeling and expecting healthy, ethical conduct.  In order to develop the emotional and physical health, as well as the character and citizenship of our students, our staff and school community must model these traits for our young people and provide opportunities for students to apply these qualities as they learn and develop. 

Our Community Assets Committee has provided our students a voice in creating a positive environment in the HF-L community.  We are pleased to be seeing more student leadership activities and service learning opportunities grow throughout our schools.  In recognition of Make a Difference Day, October 25, our Assets Committee will encourage communitywide participation in making environmentally conscious grocery totes.  Join our students and staff in our efforts to decrease the use of plastic grocery bags, which can be damaging to our environment.  Bring your favorite old t-shirts and design your own totes to take to the grocery store with you.  Then ask your cashier and bagger to pack your totes instead of using plastic or paper bags.  Or, join us to make extras to be donated to the Honeoye Falls Market Place.  This idea stemmed from Mrs. Kissack, a member of our Assets Committee.  Thanks for bringing this great project to our attention!  We’ll be making a big difference in our community this Make a Difference Day! 

We continue to be a NYS Healthy Stars Award-winning School District because of the important commitment we make to health education and due to the hard work of our Wellness Committee. You may have attended one of our popular annual Family Fun Nights.  The homework-free night kicks off an entire week of wellness activities in our schools by giving families an opportunity to get out and get active after the long, lonely winter months.  This year, Family Fun Night will be held on Monday, February 9. 

Our Food Service Department has jumped right on board with our wellness efforts!  Last year, a Food Service Advisory Committee was established to investigate ways to improve both the nutritional value and appeal of the foods we serve.  They even designed a survey regarding our current food services, and areas for improvement.  Based on the results of the survey, we’ll be making improvements to the nutritional value, taste and appeal of the food we serve, including serving more locally grown, fresh produce. 

We’re bringing back our Healthy Rites of Passage event on March 31.  If you’ve joined us for our Rites of Passage events before, you’ve been a part of some important changes underway to enhance a safe and supportive environment, such as new mentoring programs and new service learning opportunities for students. The events also generated a Risky Behavior Task Force that has identified specific actions we’ll be pursuing for: Student Education/Prevention, Parent/Adult Education and Rules and Enforcement.  These recommendations will guide our discussion at our next Rites of Passage event, as well as the work we do in this area over the coming year.  The PTA is continuing to build its HF-L Cares Network, a network of parents dedicated to providing substance free homes for our youth.  If you’re not a member of HF-L Cares, please consider joining.  Visit the PTA’s website on our website at www.hflcsd.org for more information.

Please read our final installment of this series of letters on our beliefs and core values, which will focus on fostering continuous improvement, creativity and transformational innovation.

Sincerely,
Michelle Kavanaugh, Ed. D.
Superintendent of Schools