That was a great Homecoming Week! I was so impressed by the effort put into planning the week by our ASB, for all of the spirit shown for all the dress-up days and on the day of the assembly.

The whole week was just a great example of the kind of school we are—spirited, welcoming and enthusiastic. These are all really good adjectives to be used when you talk about a school. So, thank you to everyone who had a hand in planning the week and thank you to everyone who participated!

Much attention has been paid recently to stories of people dressing up as clowns with the intent to create reactions of fear from others. It got a little bit out of hand during Homecoming week when I responded to an interview request from Hawkeye wanting my comment on the “clown” threat here at MTHS.

Until the interview, I hadn’t been aware of any threats of clown squads planning to come cause mayhem at MTHS. But it became clear to me that there were at least several rumors going around of people dressed as clowns who were planning to come to our Homecoming assembly on Friday and it was causing some real concern for students and parents.

We did our best to reassure those who were concerned and we continued to maintain our level of building security. In the end, I am happy to report that there were no clowns at MTHS. But this served as a reminder of the power of gossip and rumors. Of course if anyone has concerns about safety here at MTHS, we want to know about these concerns so that we can look into them and take whatever steps are needed to make sure we are all safe.

But, gossip and rumors can also cause people to spend a lot of unnecessary time and effort following up on things that are simply not true. Think about what you are saying and what you are passing on. Is it a rumor? Or is it a real concern?

So, you may have heard that we had some wild pigeons let loose in our school a few weeks ago. The birds created quite a mess as they were trapped in the building for the whole weekend. We finally were able to coax the birds out of the building by mid-day and they returned to the freedom of the wilderness—well, in this case the grounds around MTHS.

I guess they like it here, and so they have been hanging around. But this brings me to my point about pranks. I am not a big fan of pranks that cause damage or cause work for others like these pigeons caused for the staff at MTHS. We figured out who the responsible students were in this case and have addressed this issue with them, but I share this as food for thought.

Pranks can get out of hand and can have real consequences for those who are responsible. We have been prank-free as a school community for several years and I have appreciated that about our school. Let’s try to keep it that way.

Lastly, Mix It Up Day is coming up on October 25th. You may not know what Mix It Up Day is so let me explain. This is a day each year where the goal is to create opportunities for students to get to know others that they might not normally sit next to.

The idea is as simple as it sounds—you mix up who you normally sit with at lunch as a way to get to know others and make our lunch room a more inviting place for all of the students who go here. I know our ASB is planning to do something on this day and I hope you all get involved.

That’s enough for now! Go Hawks!