Dear Holly Oak Family:

Celebrate, celebrate, and dance to the music.  Dancing always connotes happiness and free expression, so dance in the streets in honor of Mothers and Teachers everywhere (yes, they deserve a capital letter).  This week was Teacher Appreciation week, and Sunday is Mother’s Day.

I suppose it is no coincidence that these two dates are linked, since teachers and mothers are very important care-givers in the lives of children.  Albeit there are male teachers, the role of teachers and mothers as supportive and tough-love guides of children’s formative years is undeniable.  Unconditional love, high expectations, and the always-there-for-you mentality exhibited by mothers and teachers help propel our children’s success in life.  They definitely deserve more than a day of appreciation.

In this modern age, the current metric of importance and value is in the number of “hits” on a search engine.  It is certainly not a surprise that Mother’s Day generates an astounding 270 million hits, surpassing even Christmas for the number of hits (250 million).  By comparison, Father’s Day and the 4^th of July only generate 80 million hits.  Don’t despair dads, your day is coming in June, but make mom happy.

Our wonderful PTA rose to the occasion and honored the teachers with a special luncheon, and organized the children to bring little tokens appreciation during the entire week.  We will continue the appreciation mode next week as we honor all school staff for Employee Recognition week.

Speaking of the PTA, they hosted another Lunch Bunch last Friday, and the participation was extraordinary.  Given the chance, Holly Oak families that had flexible lunch schedules were able to bring a little family atmosphere to our campus.  This continues to be a hallmark of Holly Oak’s success.

The PTA also brought in some Mariachis to entertain the Lunch Bunch in celebration of Cinco de Mayo.  Everyone was swaying and smiling to the music in the beautiful sunny courtyard.  Pictures of the day are on the digital picture frame in the front office.  Once again, thanks to the PTA and all of you who participate in the fundraisers to bring extras like this to our school.

So, enjoy this special weekend.  The weather should be spectacular.  Family oriented holidays certainly help glue us all back together.  We get separated from each other working hard, shepherding our children to activities, and keeping up with daily chores.  Now it is time to take a breath, smile, and tell each other that we love and appreciate each other, especially the mothers of the world.

Working with families to create a brighter future,

Christopher Corpus

Head Hawk