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Good morning and welcome to our morning show today.
We put the spotlight on the Ithaca school district and Superintendent Paul Coonan is back with us today to talk about what's going on in the Ithaca district.
How you doing Paul?
You know I'm doing okay Phil.
I'm hanging in there every day is a blessing but you know at Ithaca we're we're getting along you know we're it's really kind of neat because it really is every day there's something new.
And I go to work and I drive to work in the morning with my coffee, my hand, and I'm thinking, okay, what's going to be new here today?
And there's always something new.
Are you going to be playing trivia tomorrow night?
I am not.
Actually, my wife and I are going to Iowa Pheasant County.
Oh, okay.
Sure.
Well, maybe there'll be a question about you.
You know, we're coming up on American Education Week, which is next week.
And that's, I know that's a big week.
What is Ithaca doing in terms of recognizing?
Well, for starters, you know, we're going to, we're going to do a little something every day.
Um, uh, we've got a number of things going on.
Uh, it is the 16th through the 20th is American Education Appreciation Week.
And, uh, so each day we're going to celebrate somebody that's involved in education.
Uh, Monday we're going to be celebrating
our teachers, you know, teachers do so much more than just teach lessons.
They encourage us, they challenge us, they inspire us and help us discover what we are capable of, you know, the students, what they're capable of, and us themselves, I mean, we're always learning, always willing to learn.
They spend countless hours preparing lessons, helping students, making sure everybody has an opportunity to succeed.
They go the extra mile, they mentor, you know, teachers really, it is a servant leadership position.
They're putting
the people around them ahead of their own gain at times.
And teaching is a calling.
It's not just something that you do because no matter where you go, the pay isn't the greatest.
You don't get to travel the far off places and go on junkets or anything like that.
But there is an intrinsic reward with helping kids and seeing them smile and that light bulb turning on and that sort of thing.
It's arguably one of the most important professions
there is.
Yes, it really is.
And unfortunately, there's been a little bit of a teacher shortage.
Yeah, yeah.
You know, there's 485,000 teaching jobs that went unfilled in our nation this year.
Is that right?
Yes, it really is a shortage.
You know, and a lot of it, it's all across the board.
But really a lot of the focus is in the STEM, the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
That's where a lot of the real true shortages are.
And we had to make some decisions this year with our science department, where we were going and that sort of thing.
And we've got some good things coming down the pipe there.
But I was in contact with UW-Platteville professor down there just last week.
And we were talking about science teachers and that sort of thing.
there, they got a grant that helps kids get their diploma to be a science teacher.
So if you have an interest in sciences, you know, it's such a neat thing.
Science isn't just a class.
It's not just, oh, you know, I got to get this class done.
But if you really look at science and all the things that are involved in science, it's a process.
It's, you know, you know, something that people are inquisitive about.
And it can be constantly changing and there's a lot of room for interpretation and discovery.
It really can be a neat, neat subject area.
I have an uncle, my dad's brother, who was a science teacher his entire life.
And he was really a real driving force in my life and education.
And matter of fact, what I student taught way back in the day at John Muir Middle School in Wausau, Wisconsin, I stayed with my aunt and uncle, Uncle Jim and Aunt Rosie.
And my uncle Jim was a, he was a real driving force as well as my father was.
My dad was a math teacher though.
And I say that, he was a math teacher, though.
I was a tech ed teacher.
I just didn't think I had the goods to be a math teacher at time.
But my uncle Jim was a science teacher.
And it was really interesting because both my dad and my uncle Jim, they would bring their subject area into our everyday life.
So as a young boy, we're driving in the car, we're going up North Campus or something like that, we would have math games.
And we would, you know, like for example, cars coming at us, add up the numbers on the license plate, boom, you know, and whoever got it, you know, would get a point and we played a 10.
And so that was a real big thing.
But my uncle Jim, he would, everything was about science, everything.
We'd be out shoveling the snow when I was there in the winter, staying at his house, and I'd be helping him shovel, and he'd be talking about something about the weather and the atmosphere and stuff like that, or we would go fishing, and we'd be cleaning fish, and he'd be like, oh, look at this.
And here's what they were eating, and this is the biology of just science is just a really intriguing area.
So I would encourage any kids.
Hopefully I don't have kids skipping out of school and listening to me right now.
But parents, if you've got a kid, you've got a child that's interested in science, encourage it.
It's such a neat, neat area.
And we need science teachers.
We need math teachers.
We need tech ed teachers.
And a lot of these teachers in a lot of neat areas.
So I really am trying to encourage folks going into that.
And it is a calling.
It definitely is a calling.
It's something that you just kind of like, yeah, I think that's what I want to be.
And I do believe that a long time ago when I had that calling, it was a little bit different.
I didn't go into, I was a TechEd teacher, so I was part of that.
And early on, it was very fascinating for me all the things that I did.
And I carried it over to this day in my life.
I do a lot of things that experience really helped me in life.
science is one of those topics though there's so many different habits you can go you can go you know physical science or you know whatever
yeah everywhere you know biology and my my cousin my uncles and my first cousin my cousin Dave Coonan he was
also a science teacher.
And he and my uncle, his dad, talked together at Wasau East High School.
Oh my gosh, that was a hoot.
But when I go fishing with Dave and stuff like that now, it's all about science.
It's all about science.
And so there are a lot of different areas.
No doubt about it.
And being an outdoorsman, I'm guessing you appreciate that.
Really do.
Really do.
Cause you look around and you think about the changing colors and, you know, photosynthesis and, you know, chlorophyll and all these things.
I don't want to say too much to prove how much I don't know.
But, um, you know, yeah, it really is, it really is interesting.
Our world is just filled with science and, and we need more people to take that interest.
So you're saluting
teachers on a Monday.
What are some other things you're
doing next week?
You know, on Tuesday,
We're going to celebrate our support staff.
We want to celebrate our amazing support staff and they help make our school a wonderful place to learn from our secretaries, our custodians, our paraprofessionals, our aides, our school nurse, our bus drivers, anybody that helps out, whether it's a food service.
you know behind the scenes or right out there you know on the front lines with the kids you know food services often I think an overlooked area that people don't understand and appreciate sometimes they do so much you know our food services there at oh dark 30 in the morning everyone that's why I don't get a parking spot where I wanted it because they beat me to it in the morning but um uh you know they they help our school you know
from organizing it, to cleaning it, making sure it's safe and running smoothly.
Contributions are such an important part of our success.
No doubt.
I've been in hundreds of schools over the years covering sports and I learned years ago.
go to the custodial staff if you want to know anything about the school because they're in all the time they're in the trenches
so to speak.
When I first started teaching in 1987 I went to a small school in northern Wisconsin and my dad gave me some wise words of wisdom as I went off left the nest and went off to you know on my own and he said there's two people you need to get to know the first people you need to get to know at your school when you go there the custodians and the cooks.
He said, if you got it in with them, you're set to go
home.
They'll take care of you.
They'll take care of you.
You won't ever go hungry.
And they always make sure that if you need something, you get it.
So Wednesday.
We're going to be celebrating our school leaders, you know, principals, you know, they're going to celebrate, they're actually going to celebrate me.
So I don't, you know, and I have a hard time with that because one of my models that I really focus on as far as leadership in general is if something bad happens, I did it.
If something good happens, you did it.
If something great happens, we did it.
And it's hard to sometimes
when people want to say thanks and stuff like that, you kind of, yeah, okay, that's fine.
You want to put it on the other people because you want to focus on other people.
And so I really want to do that.
But think about our principal, Mr. Daly.
He's been in here.
What a wonderful man.
He's been such a great addition to our school.
He fits right in.
He's got that mindset that we needed at the cut.
Our counselor, Gretchen Knabel, is a fantastic person and does such a great job with the kids.
You know, anybody that's in a leadership role, you know, Lori Pizer and Brooke Hackel and, you know, Ashley Pardoon and Laura Steele and all these folks that are in the office, you know, whether they realize they're not their leaders in this school.
They're also, you know, that part of that support group.
So kind of a, they wear multiple hats.
I say people at Ithaca are like Swiss army knives.
They got to do everything, but they're one person or one package, you know, and, and they got, they say wear a lot of hats.
I say, well, they're a Swiss army knife.
They've got a lot of tools in there at their disposal.
so we're going to be celebrating them on that is on Tuesday on Wednesday we're going to be oh no that's Wednesday Wednesday school leaders Thursday we're going to be celebrating our families and community you know our families and community members
They play an important role in the education.
They're helping out at home.
Learning doesn't just happen in the classroom.
It's got to happen outside.
And parents, grandparents, guardians, volunteers, local businesses, our community organizations, our volunteers, they help support our students and they help support our schools.
And that's one of the beautiful things about Ithaca.
If there's something that's needed in Ithaca, people come out of the woodwork to help.
you know, whether it's they need a helping hand, they, they need, you know, a fundraiser, somebody's, you know, having a tough time in life and, you know, and that sort of thing.
There's just a variety of things.
And, and I've actually paired up with the hospital to have a helping holiday helpers or a holiday help program in which we're going to try to get people in the area, not just Ithaca students, but, but.
all families have an opportunity to get a little extra help at the holiday season because it can be a stressful time, you know, and in this day and age when, you know, everything costs so much.
And, you know, it just, you know, if there's a little something that some folks can do, you know, we're going to do it.
But, you know, it's the families, they volunteer their time, they attend events, you know, they, they, they, um, they help coach.
There's
They're encouraging at home.
You know, one of the biggest ways that that I find support is because let's face it.
There's sometimes I've got to call parents or Mr. Daly has to talk call parents and talk about, hey, we had a problem.
You know, when and we're just trying to do the right thing by kids.
And when parents support and we can talk things out and they and they support what we're doing there and they can support it at home, that's huge.
That is that is one of the the greatest things
that can happen is that we bind together.
And we support that student, both at school and at home.
And that is such a big thing.
And the education is truly a team effort.
And we are very grateful to anyone who helps meet our student needs.
And if we can support things at home, we also try to reciprocate that.
Well, they say it takes a community to raise a child, right?
Well, that's actually, you know, that takes a village, they say.
A village, yeah.
We use the village to do that.
And on Friday, we're celebrating our students and really the power of education.
The most important reason we come together each day is our students.
Every student brings unique talents and ideas and dreams and possibilities.
Who knows, they could be a future science teacher or a math teacher, a tech ed teacher, an education.
It gives us the tools to explore our interests and overcome challenges.
discover new opportunities and build a bright future.
I often tell kids, I'll talk to a student and they might be struggling in a class and they might have kind of a sour attitude about, ah, this is stupid.
I don't want to do this.
I said, listen, buddy, life is tough.
You're going to have bumps in your road.
Don't do it without an education.
Put yourself in a situation where you can be successful.
And last night, I got the opportunity to talk at our National Honor Society ceremony.
And I had kind of a rough day.
And I went home after school for just a little bit and tried to rest a little bit like that.
And I felt I was a little down.
I won't lie to you.
And I went to that national honor society induction ceremony last night and they had me as their guest speaker.
And boy, I tell you what, I left there.
I was ready to jump out on the football field again, like in high school, you know?
And I was fired up and those kids, they were so inspiring to me, these young kids who have such a bright future and they're taking their education seriously.
And one of the stories I said to them, and when I speak at any time I'm asked to speak, I tell stories.
And I tell stories about Al Coonan and Jim Coonan and my family and all the goofy things that happened to us, but always with a lesson somewhere along the way because I learned so many lessons from my dad and my uncle.
And I tell the kids, I said, listen, if this wall over here on the left is your born and the one over on the right is when you die, at the end of your life, you'd like to be way up on that wall.
way up high by the ceiling you want to be living life and be in a good position and be happy and stuff like that you know and if you start now and you just angle up just a little bit by the time you get later in life you'll be way up there but if you just kind of maintain and don't
do things to improve yourself to put yourself in a better position whether it's with your family or your education or you know monetarily you know your job you know and and that sort of thing or your retirement or whatever start early just make little increments and by the time you get later in life you'll be way up on there but if you wait and you just kind of stay stagnant and you just kind of keep going at the same level sooner or later
You're going to have to go, man, I need to get up on that wall a little bit.
And then it's a greater uphill battle.
And I really believe in that if you can start young and so that I try to encourage kids to do that early.
And I often say, life's tough.
Try it without an education.
It's not good.
You know, there's, there's some, some neat lessons to
learn.
Sometimes it's tough to impress upon a 16, 17, 18 year old student about, uh, you know, those kind of things, uh, benefits, good jobs and, you know, it's not something they're really thinking
about.
And I get that because they're like the whole, oh my gosh, the whole, their whole life is ahead of them.
their whole life is ahead of my eye.
I don't even have to worry about that.
I'm so young and all this kind of stuff.
But you gradually, the clock keeps on ticking and you end up somewhere down the road.
And where you end up is a product of what you did all before that.
And so a lot of times, yeah, they don't realize, you know, that they're going to progress in life.
And I sometimes I think, oh my God, I can't, I'm this old.
How did that happen?
You know, I feel like I'm about
20 or 30 years younger, and I probably act about that, but really the truth of the matter is that very often I say, man, there's a lot more sand on the bottom than there is on the top, and life does progress.
I hear you, absolutely.
Paul Kuhn and our guest on The Morning Show.
We're going to take a break and come back with more in a moment as we focus on Ithaca Schools today on The Morning Show.
Mr. Paul Kuhnen, our guest here on WRC's morning show for a Friday as we wrap up a interesting week here on the show.
You guys had a great fall sports season.
You know, we really did.
I mean, right across the board, we did, you know, our volleyball team had a good season.
They won in the first round of the playoffs.
Unfortunately, they lost in the second round to a tough DeSoto team.
You know, but the girls, I think, had a decent season.
And they were fun to watch.
And, you know, a lot of emotion goes into athletics.
And this year, it was kind of a heightened emotion all across the board.
You know, and one of the
the groups of kids that put a lot of effort in is WIHA, Wisconsin Nurse Scholastic Coorship Association.
I had to learn that years ago, what WIHA was, because it's a long thing, but those kids put in so much time and effort.
They don't get the notoriety that the other sports do, but those kids do a great job, and they go and they get judged.
And they compete and they get judged and they travel all over and they take care of their animals all year long.
I mean, it's really a dedication and commitment your own.
But they also, when you see them get judged,
Those judges, they don't sugarcoat stuff.
Some of them might be, oh, yeah.
And then others of them, they give it to them raw.
I mean, they're definitely not cutting corners and just trying to sugarcoat stuff.
They give it to them very real.
And that can be kind of tough for a young kid.
And those kids show a lot of resiliency.
And so I give those Weehaw kids a kudos.
And they went down to the Alliance Center in Madison, and they competed at the state level, and they took fourth over.
wrong we're very proud of them for that.
Another one was our cross-country team.
We just got a few boys, I think four of them that were in cross-country with Richland Center, and they had a great, great showing, and they really enjoy it, so I really credit that to a lot of the coaching, because running can't always be the most pleasant of things, but those folks find a lot of enjoyment in it, and I really thank the coaches for making it enjoyable for the kids, because I would drive them over once in a while,
practice, and those kids were always excited to go.
And they had a real strong showing at a conference.
Unfortunately, there was only one runner, which was from Richland Center, that went to the state level.
But they had a real good showing.
And then, of course, our football team, we went deep into the playoffs.
And we lost a tough one last week to a really tough Iowa Grant team.
And you were there.
That was tough.
And it was a pretty lopsided win for Iowa Grant.
And we wished them the best.
I think they could very well be the next state champs this year in our division.
But I tell you what, I sure was proud of our boys.
I was proud of all of our kids.
But that was a tough way to end the season.
And every boy that was on the team that I saw this week, I was like, hey, listen, you guys should be proud of yourself.
You gave us a lot of fun, a lot of enjoyment to watch you boys.
And the coaches did a great job.
And it was a very inspiring year.
And so I really appreciate their efforts and all of the kids and all of the events for giving us fun things to watch on a weekly basis throughout the week and even on weekends.
Well, it'll be a tough act to follow for Ithaca Western football.
I mean, they set the bar pretty high for the first year of the co-op, didn't they?
They did.
They really did.
And you know what, too, I think we had...
five seniors, five or six.
I can't remember now.
So we've got a lot of kids, you know, coming up, you know, and, and some really high caliber ball players.
I could not believe that Jacob Keller from, from Weston was a sophomore.
Oh my goodness.
You know, I mean, and, you know, and then Spencer Nelson and all these other supporting cast members that are, that are young.
So I'm looking forward to future seasons as well.
Absolutely.
Well, winter sports, I think the girls already started practicing.
They did.
I went by the other night and the doors were closed, and I could hear that constant squeaking.
And I said to Mr. Daly, I said, ah, it's basketball season.
He said, yep, squeaky shoes.
They were running.
Yeah.
They're running and they're doing all kinds of stuff.
And I actually talked to, uh, JC Maxwell.
I, I couldn't find one of the coaches and I was trying to get some notes, uh, um, put together.
And, uh, so I just talked to JC real quick and she said that it looks like they're going to have five seniors, one junior.
So for me, for me, a young team, I believe there's about.
I think there's 17 or 18 girls out.
It's the co-op between the Conweston.
Plenty of talent, especially in the underclasses, you know, apparently a talent.
They just have a few older kids, but looking forward to a fun season.
And it is always kind of enjoyable to follow basketball.
And I'm not a huge basketball fan.
I mean, I don't watch NBA or even college ball level, but high school
basketball is pretty enjoyable.
The kids show so much emotion and so much heart and, you know, and it's, and it's a long season.
So it's kind of like watching the brewers.
If you don't watch them early, sometimes at the end, when things really, the magic really starts to happen, uh, you miss out.
So I would encourage everybody to, to follow the teams early, uh, as they start playing here in November and December.
Yeah.
That's, that's those are actually good numbers for a school or school, your
size, because
there are a lot of bigger schools that are having
a hard
time fielding girls.
basketball teams
right and you know and hence why the you know the co-op can occur but really looking forward to watching them and the boys I talked to coach Hipsch yesterday and it was like I felt like I put Aaron on the spot you know as our coach you know what what are you saying for the season and I can always remember my dad well we're gonna be a dark horse this year you know it's a rebuilding year in those clips catch things but you know coach said you know they've worked really hard
uh, in the off season, um, they got four seniors and plenty of youth to go along with them.
But he really focused on, you know, they're, they're looking for good things this year and they really worked hard in the off season and there was an open gym night and I saw the, the boys playing around and you know, I think, I think they, they got the right mentality that they're willing to work and, and willing to play hard.
And so, you know, there's another, uh, sport that you can really keep an eye on.
Good deal.
And then wrestling.
Yeah.
And, you know, and the Ithco West, uh, Ithco Weston wrestling cooperative in boys has been around for, I believe like over 20 years.
Um, I know that, uh, they've really had a strong wrestling program for many years with all the folks involved, all the coaching involved.
It's been consistent coaching, you know, throughout the years.
I know, uh, I talked to Steve Lewis a lot and we talk about wrestling.
You know, he's very passionate about that, but you know, Troy Clary is there.
He's been there forever.
And, you know, he's a heck of a wrestling coach.
And I remember,
I remember my first year here at Ithgaz, the principal in 2014, it would actually have been 2015, going down to Madison and watching, oh gosh, now all of a sudden the names escaped me, I should have written them down, but one was his boy at the state wrestling match.
Boy, I tell you what, that was fun and exciting.
So it's neat when the wrestling program is strong to watch those wrestlers and girls wrestling.
Last year, they got a young coach, Skyla Wallace, a strong coach, strong wrestler.
It's definitely an upcoming sport.
We really encourage all girls that have any interest to go out and really, you know, because it's fairly new.
And it's starting out, there tends to be a lot of youth.
So they're getting kids, you know, started earlier.
So it looks like we've got a real strong showing for middle school.
So those kids will eventually get older, you know, and grow up.
And so I'm really looking forward to our high school program in years to come, but hopefully coach sticks around for a long time and we get that consistency in coaching.
And I have not met coach Juanless, but I've talked to folks and I'm really looking forward to meeting her and seeing what they can do.
So that'll be that'll be a neat event to see early on
I don't play you're very appreciative of your coaches.
Maybe you could say a few words about coaching.
Yeah Well, I tell you what, you know, I talk about a calling Coaching is definitely a calling as well.
I coached for many years.
I coached.
What did I all coach?
I think I coached every single sport wrestling track.
I did not coach
cross country.
I was a football coach, a basketball coach, you know, softball.
One of the neatest sports I ever coached was girl softball.
It was a lot of fun.
It was really exciting.
But you know, coaches, you pay them a stipend, but it is nothing compared to the time and effort they put in.
They would, I think they would coach for free.
because they love coaching the kids.
They love doing it.
They love the sport.
You know, I talked to Brad Lewis, I don't know, a week and a half ago and stuff like that.
And we talked a little bit about softball and it brought back a lot of the memories of when I coached softball and how enjoyable it was.
So I'm looking forward to all that.
But coaching is one of those things where they need support too.
That should be, I'm writing that down here on my list of who we're gonna celebrate next week for American Edge.
I got to put that on here.
That wasn't on the list.
But they are definitely somebody that needs to be appreciated as well because they, you know, they're doing the best job they can with the kids they got.
And, you know, sometimes they catch some flak, you know, from parents and stuff like that.
And it's like, you know,
they're trying to do the best job they can.
Um, and emotions run high in sports.
So, you know, maybe, maybe cut them a little bit of slack now and then, but it definitely is a calling and the coaches are very dedicated in their sports and, and they enjoy doing it.
And, you know, for, for coaches like, uh, you know, Troy Clary to be coming back for 20 some years, that's, there's a great deal of dedication there.
Well, as
an
extension of the classroom, as they always say, right?
Absolutely.
And there's so many lessons to be learned from being involved in sports.
for kids and you know there's studies that are done and they say you know your your kids that that score the highest on tests and do the best on you know standardized testing or do the best in college are kids that were involved in extracurricular activities and not just
sports, but, you know, band, choir, you know, theater, anything where they do something that isn't required, you know, on their own, you know, FFA or, you know.
Forensics.
Forensics, yes.
Perfect example.
All of those extra things.
They help kids.
They help expand their knowledge.
They put them in more circumstances.
I remember when I was, I believe, a sophomore in college, excuse me, college, a sophomore in high school.
I was in choir and I sang a song at solo ensemble and that's that's right oh my gosh I was shaking in my boots and then when I was in college and that kind of broke the ice when I was in college I took a class that was about you know forensics and stuff like that we did all kinds of neat things that really prepared me for public speaking prepared me for getting in front of a classroom of kids and not being nervous and just being relaxed and and and then you're more efficient so there are so many great things that kids can learn from all those extra
activities like we mentioned across the board not just sports but the other ones as well.
Well I hate to even bring it up but winter is
coming on before too long.
It's funny that you mentioned that.
I just wanted to ask you
a little bit about the process and the decision making.
And this is your first year back, but
probably
you're lying on some of the sources you did when you were here with Ithaca before.
Yeah.
And one of the first things I did is I contacted Molly Cast and Molly and I have a good working relationship up at Weston there.
And she's been doing this longer than I have.
And so I give her a call and she's very, very
helpful in things so I say hey what do you do for this so she sent me her sheet and I was like thinking to myself at first I was looking at the list and I'm like going who's this oh wait a second that's her list of people she's got a call
And so then I looked in the, and I actually this week, um, you know, uh, figured out all my procedures and that sort of thing.
I'm glad we didn't have a snow storm before this, but it, you know, there's, yeah, there's, but you never know.
I remember last year, Thanksgiving week, I was out in North Dakota, pheasant hunting with my wife, Angie and I, and we got a blizzard and it came, it's everything that happens in North Dakota comes this way and we got hammered out there and we kind of stuck out there.
I was not complaining.
But it made anything that we did after that pretty tough but you know we do have kind of a process of how this how this works and we've got people Rick Manning our director of transportation and Frank Waslik and is our head custodian you know I get on the phone with him in the morning and Rick drives out and I'll drive out and we'll take a look at things and then you know we'll kind of form an opinion of what's going on but Molly and I will
will communicate.
But also there's a whole texturing of folks, of superintendents for the whole area.
You know, from as far down as Prairie du Chien and maybe, you know, Riesberg and beyond, you know, just this whole area of superintendents that they'll share information.
So it's not like anymore where somebody just makes a decision on their own, but it really is a collective decision for the area.
But once we
We get that information and we make a decision and a decision has got to be made before six a.m.
and quite frankly these days I don't hardly sleep past four thirty so it's going to be earlier than that on our end.
But we you know we make that decision of what we're going to do are we gonna we're gonna.
schools as normal?
Are we going to be a two hour delay?
Are we going to be closed?
Once that happens, you know, then all of a sudden now the communication begins.
And I communicate with a group of six people.
And those six people then communicate with other folks and we have a calling tree.
So it's kind of the trickle down this person calls this person and that sort of thing.
And I put it out on that superintendent's page, you know, if the cause closed for the day or we're a two hour delay or whatever the case is.
And then we start contacting, um, doing the other things.
And Adam has our, our, uh, technology director.
He, he puts, pushes out the message to all the families.
And so people are going to be getting email messages.
And then, you know, we, we get in touch.
with the radio stations.
And I just wanted to mention real quickly some of the radio stations that we'll be doing first and foremost is here at W.
R.C.L.
I don't want to drill blank because I'm looking at all the other stations here.
But at W.R.C.L.
here, it really will be our first call.
So we'd like you to listen in here.
And do you do it just here?
Do you do it amongst other radio stations?
We do it just here.
It'll be on our website as well.
On the website.
There we go as well.
But then we contact W.R.D.B.
which is 1497.3 and W.R.D.L.
which is 102.9.
WNFM 104.9 and that's, you know, that whole, I believe it's a magna media.
And so we contact them.
We contact channel 27 WKOW and they put it on all their resources, channel 15 WMTV.
They put on all their resources, channel 3000 and put it on Facebook and, you know, any, anywhere we can possibly put it.
So there's, there's many, many avenues.
So if you don't get the message somehow, you just got to look somewhere else, any of the local radio stations, TV stations, our Facebook page, any of those things.
And we put it all out there as well as we push a message through our message system, which is called ThrillShare.
And it pushes it all our family.
So if you're a family in the Ithaca district and you've maybe got my newsletter,
from November or you've gotten a message, that sort of thing, then you'll be getting that message as well.
I would hate to make the decision that's so easy for the rest of us to sit there and say, well, they could have had school today.
Or why do they get out?
Because weather is such a funny thing.
But you've got to err on the side of safety.
And I surely would not want to be driving a bus in some of the roads
that
these buses travel
on.
Right.
And one of the things that I learned early on, because when I came to the Richland Center area, when I came to Ithcon 2014, I came from Hayward.
And in Hayward, you get snow.
As a matter of fact, when I came and interviewed it was March.
I was driving down Highway 58 between Richland Center and Ithaca and I looked off in the field and it was bare grass and there were deer out there and I saw some turkeys and that sort of thing.
I'm like, wow, this is pretty neat.
And I went back home to my house in Hayward.
I walked away from my house.
I wasn't right by the house where maybe snow could get piled a little bit higher.
I went out in the woods and I dug a hole and the snow was to my waist.
I always have said,
Hayward winter is about two months longer a month at the beginning and a month at the end longer Because you get all that snow and then it doesn't warm up as fast and that sort of thing So I was used to that winter and I came down here.
I'm like this is nothing But go drive the ridges Drive those roads up high on ridges that um
Get get the wind and you get the drifting and that's when you can appreciate why we have this Cancel school sometimes because we can't put those kids in danger and many of
them drive to
yeah, and yeah, and think about that too they drive and Those kids are coming from all different areas.
We don't want and you know, let's face it too There's a lot of kids that it's a real source of pride to never miss a day at school
And all of a sudden they're like, oh my gosh, I'm a senior.
It's January.
I've never missed a day of school in 12 years of school.
And now I can't get out because my driveway is, but they're having school and now I missed a day of school.
That's not right.
I mean, that's a pretty minor thing, but I've had that happen.
But you don't want to put all those kids individually.
So it's not just one or two bus drivers or three bus drivers or even four.
It's dozens of kids.
Family members dropping off kids.
It's you have to think of everybody and we have days built in You know, we're okay on minutes, you know and in the state of Wisconsin You have to have so many minutes of instruction each year and our elementary schools are they have a tendency because in a 4k building those elementary students they go to school
The same pretty much the same length of time as the high school students Well, there's so much more so many more minutes that are required of high school students that those elementary students have way over the amount of time So we are always in good shape and we have plenty of days built in so we're in good shape there we want to make sure everybody's safe and
Let's face it in this day and age.
You can't take risks like that So if if you disagree with our with our our reason to cancel school on a given day I would much rather have that than not cancel school and be like this is ridiculous They should have cancelled they should have cancelled right that that I don't want so, you know Unfortunately, that's just the way life is and sometimes we got to make that decision We make it to the best of our ability and really safety is foremost after
at the front for our kids, our families, our bus drivers, everybody.
Now, I'll go into school after that and take care of business and stuff like that, but I got everything set up so I can do it from home as well.
Right,
good
deal.
Well, that time will be here before we know it.
So Paul, always good to see you.
Thank you
so much for
coming
in.
Appreciate it very much.
Thank you very much.
And you'll always remember, Phil, it's a great day to be a Bulldog.
Yes, it is.
We'll see you in December.