SUPER MONDAY

A motivational and informational morning message from Superintendent Willis

Week 19 ~ December 18th, 2023

Super Monday Message

Back in 2020 I told a great Christmas story when it wasn’t Christmas. I’ll bring the story back for Christmas this year. The story is about an interesting artifact at the National World War II Museum. The museum is on Magazine Street in New Orleans. Many of the artifacts and images on the campus are what you might expect to find at a war museum, military equipment, uniforms, battle images, etc. The artifact of this story might seem out of place.

The artifact is a violin and the main character of the story is Clair Cline. Cline was a young man flying a B-24 Bomber in World War II. After being shot down behind enemy lines he was imprisoned in the Stalag Luft I prison in Germany. Cline had been taught to work hard on the farm his whole life and sitting still all day everyday in prison did not sit well with him. Cline traded some of his American cigarettes with a German guard for a penknife. He took a few slates under his mattress and scraped glue from under the chairs. Over the course of several months, with the most primitive hand tools, he built a violin.

Upon the completion of his truly scratch-made-marvel, he spent most of his time at the latrine practicing using it. On Christmas Eve 1944 Cline performed Silent Night and as he played his entire barracks progressively joined in. Cline recalled hearing at least one voice singing in German and noticed a white haired guard with tears flowing singing along. Cline used the violin as a lesson for his children and grandchildren his entire life that you can always find productive ways to use your time.

The story of Clair’s violin is beautifully told in a movie called “Instrument of War.” We all get the same amount of time in a day. We all sometimes have to be in places we don’t want to be. We have to choose whether or not we’re going to put on a smile and use all the time we have in the best way we can think of. Have a great week 19. Have a very Merry Christmas and the happiest of New Year’s!

Super High Fives

Just a couple of the awesome recent accomplishments that need a big thank you. 

• A super high five to Kilee Long, Paula Wilde, and Kami Gass. They presented some of the great work they are doing in their schools at the school board meeting last week. They are doing great work and we appreciate their efforts. 
• A super high five in advance to Mr. Tyrel Ivie for the choir concert tonight. We’re excited to see our famous choir in action again.

Other Super Information

• Winter Sports Schedule
• Draft 2024-2025 School District Calendar

Super Weekly Schedule