BACK TO SCHOOL! For years this statement brought a sense of relief to our household. That was true only because none of us taught school on a regular basis. (I was a long term substitute for my son’s first grade class and that jettisoned of any teaching aspirations on my part until I thought teaching college students would be easier. Not so, I can assure you!)

So, this time of year comes with mixed emotions to be sure. Students dread the homework and the time schedule but welcome seeing their friends and participating in sports on a regular basis. I’ve heard some teachers talk excitedly about the year ahead and some dread the same thing students do - homework and the time restraints. But I saw more cheers than sorrow written in Facebook messages this past week from moms and dads . . . sorry kids! However, if you are a parent, a grandparent, an aunt or uncle or just an adult who has some time to spare I wanted to give some information on two volunteer opportunities to help you feel a part of this new school year and provide some much needed help too. (These are given in alphabetic order so there is no assumption of favoritism.)

For those of you interested in the music and theater, the Conneaut Valley Music Boosters support the Conneaut Valley High School Department of Music and Drama Club. Their meetings are held on the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM in the high school music room. Please use the south driveway and travel around to the back of the building and park in the rear paved parking lot. The music room is the only rounded part on the back of the building. Use the music room doors to enter.

Contact information for the current officers is as follows: President: Dot Luckock, 587-6233. dluckock[*place@here]windstream.net, Vice-President: Renee Watson, 587-2856, Secretary: Ronda Hoover, 587-6433, CVHSmusicmom[*place@here]yahoo.com, Treasurer: Karen Bean, 587-3538, Music Director, Mr. Glenn Cameron, 587-2166 gcameron[*place@here]conneautsd.org. Front Unit Advisor: John Spencer.

If you are interested in keeping up with the music boosters on their web site, you can find them at the following: http://cvmusicboosters.wikispaces.com/

For sports enthusiasts the Conneaut Valley Sports Boosters has a monthly meeting on the first Saturday of each month at the high school at 9:00 AM and they try to wrap things up by 10:15 AM. In the winter months they meet in the school cafeteria and the rest of the year at the football field house.

The mission and objectives of Sports Boosters is to develop and maintain an enthusiastic interest in all the CVHS sports programs, raising funds and providing financial support as needed and coordinating awards banquets/events for student athletes in cooperation with the Athletic Director and Coaches. If you have any questions or would like to volunteer, please give them a call, they need your name, phone number(s), and email address so they can stay in touch as the needs and opportunities arise. The 2011-2012 Officers are:

President – Greg Comp, Vice President – Dawn Stearns, Treasurer – Joyce McMillin, and Secretary – Sue Boyce. This group has an organizational Facebook account you may join, aptly named Conneaut Valley Sports Boosters!

If you are looking for an avenue of supporting Conneaut Valley schools in general, please attend the upcoming School Board meetings to show you care what happens with our schools on September 7 and September 14, 7:30, at Conneaut Lake High School.

*Note from webmaster: To protect email addresses from automated span harvesters I've altered the "@" sign. Replace [*place@here] with @