Kimberly Moritz BlogPosts

Believe it or not, a significant portion of our school community accesses the Internet through dial-up. This includes our house and it’s not necessarily through choice but through a total lack of options. We can’t even get cable where I live and when I call the company to ask “when”, they’ve gone from laughing when I asked the question in 1989 to vague answers about rural areas today.

This dial-up only access isn’t only annoying because of speed, or lack thereof, but it limits options for our families. We plan to go live with the parent portal of our gradebook/attendance product  in September.

As I understand it now, families who live in Dayton, Cottage, Perrysburg, the Cattaraugus Territory, and other rural areas of our district will be excluded from access. I figured that just meant it would be extremely slow for me at home, like many sites, but then I learned that we won’t even be able to open it. This means that families in those areas will have to access our parent portal through their work sites or the public library or our school computer labs.

It’s frustrating and it’s an inhibitor to stronger communication with our parents. I know, I know, they can still get the information through our guidance department, teacher email, progress reports, report cards, etc.–the “old fashioned” way. But I’ve been looking forward to September, 2008 when we take it a giant step forward and allow parents and students to see where they stand with grades and daily attendance, well, daily.

This dial up only access affected the decision for my new presentation on this blog. Through the design of our school website, I was reminded of download times for everyone at home when we add lots of pictures and graphics. So while they’re cool, the pictures and graphics found on other presentations/blogs are not necessary for G-Town Talks, not if they prevent some community members from accessing the information.

 I’ll keep it as simple as possible until we’re all “up to speed”.

Our son, Tallon, plays hockey for a 15-18 year old league in Fredonia, New York. This weekend his team hosted a tournament, the Aaron Gibb tournament, named after a player on the team who was tragically killed in a car accident last April. The team played really well, with 12 of the players on our team 18 year olds for whom this game was really personal.

They lost it in the championship today 2-3. As the mother of a rookie on the team, a 15 year old, I just kept praying that Tal would work hard, do his best, and NOT make any mistakes including penalties. The coaches and players for our team showed real class this weekend, honoring their former teammate.

The game was intense and I ended up sitting amidst parents from the other team.

Now anyone who’s ever seen me at a wrestling meet would tell you I can be a boisterous parent. I love the sport, I yell and cheer, I am definitely more engaged than during any of the other sports I watch. Today I got a little perspective sitting with the opposing fans.

We’re obnoxious as parents. Really. I don’t feel nearly as passionately about hockey, so I was quiet. But geez. These parents were yelling and swearing (I NEVER go that direction) and the woman seated with me had a small child with her. What’s wrong with us as adults that we become so engrossed in being a spectator that we lose ourselves?

Part of it is wanting our kids to do well so much that we feel “cheering” them on will actually have an impact. My kid just thinks I should keep quiet, that’s the impact I’m having. For me, it’s also about cheering louder for the kids who I know don’t have parents in the stands. But the parents who lose it, who pound the wall or swear at whatever, what is that?

I think I’ll work on keeping my mouth shut in the future, keeping quiet unless I’m positive the only thing I’m yelling is, “WAY TO GO!” Not sure I’ll get there, but sitting with the other side today certainly pointed out how stupid they look and consequently, how stupid I must look when I get carried away with the game. Something to work on, that’s for sure.