Charles Skidmore, who has retired as principal of Arlington High School, periodically sent an e-mail newsletter to parents and guardians. Here is his final edition, sent June 30.

Ted Dever, AHS athletic director, reported that the end of the spring season was highlighted by our three tournament entries. Our volleyball team made the tournament for the first time in the team’s history. The team lost to Central Catholic. The game was held in Lawrence and many Arlington Students made the trip to support their classmates.

Our softball team made the tournament and almost upset Newburyport before the opponent rallied for a last at bat victory. Our DCL champion baseball team continued the impressive run of over 20 years qualifying for the state tournament. The boys lost a tough game vs. Melrose but will be able to seek revenge next year as they join the Middlesex league and will be playing Melrose. A big congratulations to Matt Lipinski and Rebecca Robinson who were chosen as all scholastics; Matt in Tennis and Rebecca in track!

Next year’s athletic packet is now posted on the APS website. The entire packet will need to be filled out in order to tryout in the fall. Students will need an updated physical within the last 13 months of the tryout date, parent permission form, and concussion form and user fee. All dates for all team tryouts and other information, including the revised fee structure for each sport, are also available on the website. Football tryouts begin August 22^nd, the other varsity sports begin August 25^th. Please visit the website for specific time and dates or call the Athletic Directors office with any questions. Enjoy the summer.

Awards Night / Dollars For Scholars

The Senior Awards night on June 9 in the Lowe Auditorium saw AHS students receive approximately $400,000 in scholarships towards defraying the cost of college. Most of the scholarship money is community-based in memory of family members who wanted to be remembered by providing scholarships to deserving students. It is so nice to be able to recognize the hard work of so many AHS students – approximately 170 students received some monetary award – through the generosity of the Arlington community. Many of our seniors went on to win additional scholarships (approximately id="mce_marker"00,000 is given out at Town Hall) through the John Bilafer Dollars For Scholars Awards given on June 16 at Town Hall. Many thanks to Treasurer Stephen Gilligan for his dedication to this scholarship program and for emceeing the evening!

Graduation

Graduation took place in the Toz Gym this year due to threatening weather. We’ve been spoiled by being outside with lots of space, so we weren’t as prepared as we should have been for the space requirements of an inside graduation. We took copious notes and will form a much larger committee for next year’s graduation to deal with the possibility of an inside graduation. That said, it was a lovely ceremony, and as always wonderful to see another cohort of almost 300 students launched from AHS to the next stage of their lives. Many thanks to Nancy Ortwein, Rob DiLoreto, Mary Villano, John Flood, Mark Miano, Paul Jolly, the custodial and maintenance crews, and several other faculty and staff who do so much behind-the-scenes and preparatory work to make the graduation a success each year.

BeJazzled

The BeJazzled concert was an outstanding success on June 4. The concert allows AHS alumni to return to the high school and play with the Ottoson Middle School Jazz Ensemble and the Arlington High School Jazz Band. This year 52 alumni returned and what a jam session they provided for the full-house audience. Many thanks to beloved AHS Director, Tino D’Agostino and OMS Director, Paula Demetrio, and the student and alumni musicians for putting on this wonderful program and Pat Tassone, the night’s emcee.

Report Cards / Transcripts

Report cards have been processed and will be sent home by US mail beginning Friday, July 1. Year-end transcripts for seniors have also been processed and sent to the accepting college for each student in order to meet the early July deadline that colleges request for the submission of final transcripts.

Summer Reading Lists

The summer reading lists are on the APS websites. Try to get your children to read their books early in the summer, so there isn’t that awful Labor Day rush to read an entire book! ( I know, easier said than done.)

Father's Day tale

It wouldn’t be Father’s Day in my house, as long time readers of the e update know, without my family recounting some episode of lunacy in which I am the featured player.

My son had the winning story this year. “Remember when you sacred the wits out of Lea and me that summer in New Hampshire, charging into our room as if you were a masked bandit?” he inquired over the phone. “I had nightmares for years afterward.” Here’s the back story.

It was the go-go eighties and I had amassed enough money from the royalties from a series of ESL workbooks I had written to buy a little vacation house in North Conway, NH. It was my first piece of property, and I soon became what Thoreau called a “self-appointed inspector of rainstorms,” constantly puttering about the place, looking for handy man jobs to do.

I found a swarm of fairly lazy and harmless hornets under the eaves of my tool shed, and I decided that I would eliminate this menace to dining out and picnicking by applying a good spray of poison to the nest. In order to protect myself from being stung on this fine summer morning, I put on swimming goggles, a winter jacket with hood, and a bandana over my mouth. Catching a glimpse of myself in the car window on the way to the tool shed, I thought I looked amusing, and I thought the kids would get a kick out of my get up. They were about six and nine at the time. I burst somewhat noisily into the room where they were playing to say, “ Hey look how funny I look,” but before I could say anything both kids were screaming with fright, and I had to peel off my bee killer get up to convince them that they weren’t under attack by some evil intruder, just their father!

I laughed as Daniel told the story from his point of view, but one thing that pleased me about that episode was that both kids, not realizing that I was their attacker, were shouting, “Dad, Dad,” in their plea to be saved. My son, at the time, was exceedingly fond of Batman, and I can remember being secretly pleased that in his moment of crisis, he called out for his dear old Dad, and not millionaire Bruce Wayne. I wasn’t as surprised to be my daughter’s hero, but was equally delighted to know that I was her first line of defense in a crisis situation.

As my children separate from me more and more over time, both geographically and into their own families and relationships, I grow more fond of the memories and connections that we have from days gone by. Charles Blow, in his op-ed piece in the New York Times on the Saturday before Father’s Day wrote as beautiful piece about how important fathers are to their children, even ones who aren’t as present or perfect as our children rightfully expect us to be. You can read the NYT column at the following addresswww.nytimes.com/2011/06/18/opinion/18blow.html

But, as always, I do want to belatedly acknowledge the fathers, step-fathers, uncles, grandfathers and others who play an important and significant role in the lives of AHS students. It is always a pleasure to see your involvement at games, performances, and school functions.

My Last Update

This is my last update. It’s impossible for me to believe that seven years have gone by so quickly here in Arlington, not to mention 35 years since I started teaching in 1975.

A few nights ago, restless but weary, I was watching, Michael Tilson Thomas conduct Tchaikovsky’s 4^th Symphony, which, at least in the parts I stayed awake for, seemed to have a very heavy emphasis on the brass and woodwinds. As I was watching, unbidden, the words, “J’aime le son du Cor, le soir, au fond des bois,” came to my mind -- I love the sound of the horn late at night deep in the woods.”

It was the memory of my high school French teacher, showing the class the beauty of this line, because properly said, in lovely, nasal French, the line from the Alfred de Vigny poem recollecting Roland, France’s national hero, mimics the sound of a horn. Simple onomatopoeia, yes, but fairly impressive to understand it in a second language! My point is, it is memorable all this time later, because the teacher had a passion about language and about making us see the beauty in that particular line, that poem, and the French language.

As I leave the profession, it is that passion that I am proudest of in my own teaching and in my stewardship of this high school as principal. I’ve seen and encouraged that passion for teaching and learning in every classroom and every department in the school. It doesn’t happen every day, but I see it over and over again in teachers who continually re-create lessons and units to get better student responses or attend professional development seminars in order to include newer resources and technology into their teaching. Most AHS teachers have taken to heart Jean Jacques Rousseau’s quote, “one is only curious in proportion to one’s level of education,” and they work hard to make the daily work students are doing interesting and of value. Teachers at AHS are doing a tremendous job of making your children more curious through providing a rigorous education.

I have enjoyed my seven years in Arlington immensely. You, parents and guardians, have been extremely supportive of the high school and me throughout the entire time, and I can’t thank you enough for that. The farewell party that parents and students provided for me on June 10^th on the front steps was a lovely way to say goodbye, and it meant a lot to have my work validated and acknowledged by so many of you. As always, I thank you for sending us your beautiful, bright, talented children. They are a pleasure and a treasure, and I will miss being at AHS, especially because I won’t be an active part of their lives.

Thank you again; it has been a tremendous source of pride to be the principal of this wonderful school.