We Are Family

I know many of you reading this today probably don't remember the song "We are family" by Sister Sledge. The song was released back in 1979 but it seems to still be played on commercials as their jingle and in various other places, so maybe you are a little familiar with it. One part of the song goes "Living life is fun and we've just begun, to get our share of the world's delights. High hopes we have for the future, and our goal's in sight...We are family".

The reason I write about this song is because we have just reached the two week mark here at Vantage and that means all class changes are complete and all students are here for the rest of the school year. I applaud all of you who decided to stay here and not return to your home school. I have seen the high hopes and goals you have set for yourself. I know you will find it very rewarding and you will not regret it. What I really hope is that you will soon realize that everyone here at Vantage is like family. From the staff, to the teachers to the students.

Now I realize that the one of the actual definitions for family according to dictionary.com is "any group of persons closely related by blood, as parents, children, uncles, aunts and cousins". So I guess we would be more of an extended family. But really the idea of family and what the song is referring to is the idea that family is a close knit group. They care about each other, they have each others best interest in mind, they want to involve them in their activities and they are proud when each other succeeds. This is what I hope the students will realize as they go through this school year. All of us together care about you, we want to see you succeed, we are proud of you and we want to spend time with you and get to know you better.

I realize there are times when family members don't always see eye to eye or always get along. This is a normal part of the family dynamic. But they care about each other to work through the problems and discuss them and become a stronger family because of that. There is nothing as important to someone as family. You may think your money, job, friend or whatever is what makes you happy but when it really comes down to finding true happiness, that is when family (or extended family) steps in.

This Friday we will be celebrating all the students who have made the commitment to stay at Vantage for this school year. We call it Student Appreciation Day. The last hour and a half will be dedicated to food, fun, games, dancing and other activities. I hope all of you enjoy this time and reach out to other students you may not know yet and talk with them. You could meet a friend for life. Let's think of this is a big family reunion party. See you there!