The Gambler


I make an awful gambler. I like to play it safe to a fault. (Kenny Rogers didn't teach me anything I didn't already know.) Once in Las Vegas, I hit big--three-card poker, 2 big hands, 4 deals apart. I took all the winnings, put it in the room safe, and it actually went home with me and paid off the trip.

Know when to walk away, know when to run. Boring, right?

Even game shows that have a gambling component make me nervous. The game with the partners who are separated and the giant wall and at the end you have to go with a number or risk it all....that makes me 3rd person anxious. The "zonks" on Let's Make a Deal and the "Whammies" on Press Your Luck turn my stomach. I don't like to make any sports bets, mostly because I don't like to be wrong, and especially on an outcome I can't control. One in the hand vs. two in the bush and all.

In June, I didn't know what we for sure had for this school year. First, we got cleared to start summer conditioning for our sports teams. We had some pretty clear guidelines to follow, a lot of meetings between myself and Mr. Gregos, our athletic director; a few zoom meetings with coaches; a lot of paperwork and policy. We had one COVID + case during the summer, no spread within any of our programs. We kept moving forward towards the school year.

In July, we announced our plan to go back 5 days a week in-person. Was it a gamble? Maybe it feels like it on the outside, but the amount of research and planning the administration and staff did to make it happen doesn't feel the same as picking which NFL team will win on Sunday afternoon. 

In August, we opened our doors to students; 5 days in-person instruction. The master schedule was completed...down to the wire this year, with all the changes...but Mrs. Hoover, our Educational Counselor spent countless hours making sure we got it right.

Mr. Gregos and I started on our sports spectator plans. We worked for weeks-- multiple plans submitted and denied in hopes of getting more Kennedy fans to games while still staying safe and continuing our educational plans in school. 

In September, Mrs. Bofenkamp and Student Government pulled off the most participated in spirit week in years. The costumes all week were amazing, the speeches were the best they have been since I started, and every senior was gifted a Kennedy t-shirt to wear on Friday. We crowned a King and Queen in front of the student body who voted for them.

It's October. We had one COVID + case with no spread to any students or teachers. We knew there would be a case (and honestly, probably more to come due to spread outside of school) but we keep the regulations in place to contain the spread. To keep coming to school. To keep playing sports. To be able to attend Mass.

Take this into perspective: If I asked you in June-- if you held "5 days a week in-person instruction" in your hands...would you risk it for more? If I asked you in June-- if you were dealt "full fall sports season with limited attendance" ...would you risk it for more?

We are making plans to continue with our instruction and winter sports and school Masses and all the things we consider essential. The rest...it's great, really. It's part of the high school experience. But it is "extra". We need to continue to focus on the essentials; do what we have to do to keep being able to have the essentials. The extra can't be the thing that ruins in-person instruction or athletics or Mass.

Every gambler knows that the secret to survivin' is knowin' what to throw away and knowin' what to keep.

I want to be at the end of May, thanking all the people who helped get us there and all the great new things we did in spite of a global pandemic. Participating in The Amazing Race with 8th graders (my team would probably come in 2nd place, again). At National Honor Society Induction Mass. At Service Day. At Prom. At graduation that honors our senior class of 2021 (whatever that ends up looking like). I am waiting and hoping and praying and planning for all of those things, and to get there, I really think we need to keep our essentials our number one priority right now. 

You gotta know when to hold 'em.


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