WLVL to cover Hartland fireworks

WLVL's Norm Palmer will be operating remotely from the Hartland Independence Day activities on July 3rd. From 6:30 until the fireworks start, WLVL will periodically cut into the evening programming (Mark Levin, Clark Howard) to hear from Norm and his interviewees.

Veterans and First Responders breakfast

Meghan Redenbach Memorial

Royalton town-wide garage sale

US&J has new reporter for Royalton and Hartland

The Lockport Union Sun & Journal has a new reporter covering the towns of Royalton and Hartland -- Lauren D'Avolio. If you have a story or event for Lauren to cover, her email address is lauren.davolio@lockportjournal.com and her number is 439.9222, extension 6245.

Here's the US&J's article about her newspaper background:

http://www.lockportjournal.com/news/local_news/lauren-d-avolio-joins-us-j-news-staff/article_ccb1f980-3b25-50df-8753-5b0c0330118f.html

Royalton Recreation

Bieber is one of Roswell's best fundraisers

Kudos to Royalton town supervisor Jennifer Bieber. 7,100 cyclists took part in this year's Ride for Roswell. Of them, Jennifer ranked in the top hundred in terms of fundraising. Wow!

Congrats to the seniors

Congratulations to all the seniors who will be graduating this weekend. As you head through those doors for the last time as a student, reflect on the lessons learned, friends made, and memories created over the past 13 years at Roy-Hart. The school district might be small, but it's mighty...the school, the community, and your family have prepared you well for whatever the future holds. Good luck in your new endeavors!

Hartland fireworks and more

Once again, the Hartland Town Park behind the Hartland fire hall on Ridge Road will host this year's Independence Day event. However, the committee has decided to move the date forward to: Monday, July 3rd, 2017 at 5pm.

Along with the date change, they've also added more children's events, additional food vendors, new music bands and increased the fireworks display over last year.

They've also added more "on-site" parking for the day as well.

So, bring your family and friends, but don't forget your chair!

Come hungry for great food, wonderful times and honor our day of independence!

If you'd like more information or would like to help out (with a donation of money or time), please contact Matt Snell at mattsnell31@yahoo.com

Harringtons interviewed in Sunday's paper

The "where are they now?" section of Sunday's paper did a follow-up on the Harringtons, who lost their home to fire a few years back. It's a solid interview with the nice folks who run the Erie Canal Derby:

http://www.lockportjournal.com/news/local_news/one-day-at-a-time-was-harringtons-motto-after-devastating/article_a27b18da-bbc5-5dc4-bc0a-a9b5741bb0c4.html

Raffle to support Boy Scouts

A week from today on Wednesday, June 28th, the second annual Confer Plastics Classic golf tournament will take place at Willowbrook golf course in Lockport/Wrights Corners. Golfer registration has closed, but the raffle accompanying it is being run by Carol Genet and it will be open to the public from 12:30 to 4:30 on the 28th. The list of prizes is HUGE, check out the prizes in the link below. Thank you to everyone who donated prizes and everyone who will bid. All proceeds benefit the Boy Scouts:

http://www.conferplastics.com/2017/06/public-is-welcome-to-take-part-in-2017-confer-classic-raffle/

Roy-Hart's Business First rankings

All week long the local press was inundated with stories regarding Business First's annual school district rankings. It was a lead-in to the issuance of their 120 page Guide To Western New York Schools which offers detailed analyses for each and every district. I received a copy in today's mail.

Here's how our school stands in regard to some of the various criteria...

Rank: 60 out of 98 districts, up from 70th place last year.

Local comparison: Roy-Hart is ranked 7th among 10 Niagara County school districts. The report best compares us to Newfane, Perry, and Alexander among WNY schools.

In English we were in 70th place.

In Math we came in at 52nd.

We were 69th in science.

And, we were 75th place in Social Studies.

Some of the supplemental info they provided....

Our school district came in at 95th place on the achievement index. This means that our students perform worse than what the community's socioeconomic profile predicts

We are the 11th-most cost-effective district in WNY.

Spending per pupil is $15,390.

Administrative efficiency is 11th best and teacher experience came in at 53rd.

What does this all mean? It depends on your perspective.

The report does not detail how well we prepare students for the working world through integration with BOCES.

It doesn't say that almost 9% of last year's graduates were prepared for the military, which might be at the top of WNY -- compare that stat to Williamsville where less than 0.9% chose to serve the country.

The report doesn't mention the quality of life and career-preparedness that is unique to a really small school.

Frankly, I don't feel cheated having gone to Roy-Hart and I don't feel that I'm cheating my kids with Roy-Hart. I was prepared for the world and I know my kids will be -- every administrator, teacher, and staff member I've met has been awesome.

Roy-Hart might be 60th in the report. But, it's #1 in my heart.

So, I'd like to temper the Business First report with my speech from the 2016 commencement at Roy-Hart. It looks at the super powers gleaned by living in and being educated by a small school district. If you missed that speech, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDQJQMscwQk

Flag Day

Kudos to Heather Pedini for doing such a wonderful job showing the students what America is all about through Roy-Hart's exceptional Flag Day celebration.

Here's the US&J report:

http://www.lockportjournal.com/news/local_news/more-than-just-raising-a-flag/article_abcafdf0-137d-5b71-9761-10db3b485954.html

Fly-in Breakfast

Independence Day

Mrs. Coppola has passed away

Elaine Coppola taught English at Roy-Hart for years. It's with a heavy heart that we report she passed away on Saturday.

Here is Mrs. Coppola's obituary:

http://pruddenandkandt.com/tribute/details/2640/Elaine-Coppola/obituary.html#tribute-start

Boys State Foursome

This year, Roy-Hart is sending four (yes, four!) young men to Boys State. Pretty awesome. Here's the US&J report:

http://www.lockportjournal.com/news/local_news/four-score/article_ee20070c-4826-5bdd-9ba4-97a84100f2b9.html

Royalton GOP announces picks

The Royalton Republican Committee has announced their picks for the November elections. Here's the US&J's report:

http://www.lockportjournal.com/news/local_news/gop-names-its-picks-in-royalton/article_1e8d871e-cc0f-511c-bcdf-b1d362cbd188.html

Bob Cleveland has passed away

During the mid-1970s, Bob Cleveland was the superintendent of the Royalton-Hartland School District. Bob passed away last week.

Here is his obituary: http://obits.syracuse.com/obituaries/syracuse/obituary.aspx?n=robert-cleveland&pid=185760555&fhid=27468

Quaker Road delays

Quaker Rd between Slayton Settlement and Ridge will have a reduced traffic flow at the bridge (for joint repair) from June 5 for approximately four weeks. One way traffic will be maintained over the bridge at all times using a traffic signal. The traffic signal will remain intact during non-working hours also.

Salt and Light Festival schedule

Grant's Toy Farm

Cliff Grant's "Grant's Toy Farm" was profiled in the Sunday edition of the Lockport paper. Here's the report:

http://www.lockportjournal.com/news/local_news/grant-s-toy-farm-began-as-a-gift-from-grandma/image_4e220b8b-5ebf-5efa-9256-c5090c4a68b8.html