See you next year?

FINAL UPDATE FRIDAY 5:15 AM: The Beaverton School District has just posted the following -

"Schools CLOSED to Students and Staff, Friday (12/19/2008). All Activities and Events Cancelled. Administration Facilities Open to Essential Staff."

In addition, part of the e-mail from the administration states:

"The decision to close is based on student and staff safety. While we are not expecting moisture today, the low temperatures have made the side roads extremely hazardous. Our ability to transport students safely would be compromised.

A review of instructional time will be conducted in January to determine if days will need to be made up in order to meet State instructional time requirements."

Go back to bed. :-) Have a fantastic and restful long break - those speeches had better be amazing by the time we get back! Please e-mail me or comment if you need any help at all, or just want to check in during your time off. Come back refreshed and ready to go for 2009!

UPDATE FRIDAY 12:20 AM: Wonderful students, it was great to be able to get home just now and see all your comments about the speech, the game, and school. I'm sorry I couldn't post them as they were coming - I can assure you the Blazer game was absolutely incredible, and now my voice is hoarse. As far as tomorrow goes, here's part of the e-mail the teachers got:

"No decision will be made regarding the status of school operations until Friday morning. Our greatest concern at this time is not the weather but the possibility of black ice on side roads and at higher elevations. A team will be driving the roads at 3:30 a.m., and a decision will be posted before 5:30 a.m."

I'm glad that the district is doing this, though it definitely is a pain to wake up so early to find out about school. Here's what I'm going to tell you guys (after looking at the comments as well as taking into account my situation here at my house, which is definitely still snowed in): If there is class today, BRING YOUR SPEECHES. No matter what, we will work with them. Now, I find it pretty doubtful that I will be able to make it in, and I also find it somewhat unlikely that the district will decide to have school, considering all the information about what is likely to happen tonight. It was already 32 degrees in downtown Portland when I left the game this evening and it is going to get colder.

Whether or not I am able to make it in, Mrs. DeFrance will work with you guys on your speeches. I don't think it's fair to ask you to do them the day before break, and I also don't think it is fair to watch half of Hotel Rwanda, coming back to it much later. We will do both the week we get back from break. Continue working on them with your group over the break! They had better be close to perfect! Ask me for any help you may need!

I will be up early to check online about school and will post an update as soon as I know at the top of the page. Thanks for paying so much attention to this all! Go Blazers! Brandon Roy for MVP! :-)

UPDATE THURSDAY 4:00 PM: It looks to be a similar sort of situation to last night. Here's part of the e-mail I just received:

"The Beaverton School District is closely monitoring changing conditions, and consulting with our local and national weather services to make a call for Friday. No decision has been made at this time. We will decide by 10:00 p.m. tonight (Thursday) or may wait until 5:00 a.m. tomorrow (Friday) morning."

So, keep paying attention! Have those speeches ready just in case! :-) In the meantime, read this article on some of the main perpatrators of the Rwandan Genocide finally being found guilty in the International Criminal Court TODAY - over 14 YEARS since the acts we are studying in class! Slow justice indeed.

CNN.com: Trio found guilty of Rwandan genocide
UPDATE at 9:30 PM: As Archana just pointed out in the comments (before I even knew, by the way, which is pretty amazing), the Beaverton School District has decided to cancel school tomorrow, Thursday, Dec. 18th. Please make sure to watch for tomorrow night's decision as well, but until then, enjoy another day off! Please stay safe and warm out there! Watch the Blazer game tomorrow night if you want - I'm hoping to make it out to be there! :-)

UPDATE WEDNESDAY 5:15 PM: For those wondering about when/if the district will decide about school on Thursday, this is part of the e-mail from the district administration I just received:

"The Beaverton School District is closely monitoring the national weather forecast and consulting with our local weather service to make a call for Thursday. No decision has been made at this time. We will decide by 10:00 p.m. tonight or may wait until 5:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. We need more information on the cold weather pattern that may be developing."

There you have it. I'll post again when I hear about any decision that is made. See, I told you the blog would be useful... :-)


The view outside my window at home in Portland,
during last year's Christmas Day snow.
Dear students,

With the Beaverton School District deciding to cancel school Wednesday, barring some sort of miraculous turn of events in the weather, I think it is now doubtful that you will be coming to class again in 2008. Please be sure that you keep checking the school closure updates each night, but for now, it certainly looks like having school will be unlikely. Friday is the last possible day that you could have my class.

What this means for our class: I will have to keep talking to Mrs. DeFrance, the administrators at Westview, and my professors at Lewis and Clark to determine what we are going to do, but for now, here's what we have come up with:

IF there is class on Friday: Be prepared to roll with the group speeches. Dress up (but be warm, first and foremost!) I doubt that Mr. Chamberlain will be able to come in, but we might be able to find another person to help out. We will try to do as much as possible.

IF there is NO class on Friday: Have a wonderful long break! We will be doing the speeches the first day you get back from break, so practice in front of the mirror, in front of your parents - make your part PERFECT! Continue to work on them. I think we are just going to continue with the plan that I had originally made - because I think watching Hotel Rwanda is a very important way to end the unit.

Keep checking this blog! I will almost certainly keep writing and giving little extra credit assignments (like the one I posted already) throughout the break. If you see something that might be related to the class, please let me know!

If you do not have your individual speech in: I need it in, ASAP. Please e-mail me immediately if you have not turned it in. You will not be a part of the group's speech, but I do need some sort of proof that EVERYONE has actually learned something about the genocide, and you will get credit for doing the individual portion of the speech.

Finally, please let me know if you have any questions or comments about what is going on. I hope that every one of you is staying safe and warm! Have another great day off! Keep checking back during the next few days! :-)