webmaster mike's blog

Once again, it appears the planets have aligned sufficiently for me to continue my blog. Life, as it has a way of doing, has become more intricate and involved, both at work and not. For my days spent at work, things have been going swimmingly. A few inservice days with no kids in school meant that school administrators and secretaries have been upping their efforts on getting their schools’ websites up to scratch. This means a great deal more students enrolled in Awesome High School, and a proud new lot of diploma-having Awesome Wombats, ready to use their skills to make their sites the best they can be.

With a Five-Year Plan looming, KPBSD employees and the Kenai Peninsula community are being asked to give feedback to the Five-Year Plan. Everyone is encouraged to participate – the more meaningful and constructive feedback we can give, the better our District has the potential of becoming. See the front page of the KPBSD website for details. And as a heads up, we’ll be seeing more surveys in the coming weeks. Take them seriously. They will help everyone.

In the wide world of sports, the cross-country ski season is rolling, nay, SHUSSHING along. Sunday’s She Can Ski race was the largest ever, with proceeds benefitting the Leeshore Center and the Tsalteshi Trails Association. Mark it on your calendars for next year – it’s on Superbowl Sunday. Rest assured you’ll be home in time for the game. Speaking of the Superbowl, another close one! Of course I’m talking about the halftime show. Thankfully Madonna or Cee Lo Green had no wardrobe malfunctions, but Cee Lo did come onto the stage dressed as an Idi Amin stunt double. Not sure of the take-home message there.

Lastly, I have decided to curtail my skate skiing in favor of classic skiing, as I want to focus on that for the Tour of Anchorage. I have also decided to do the only classic-only (fentoozling) race available – the 25k. I think this will give me a better estimation of how I compare to “real” skiers. I’m nervous but also very excited. Another reason I decided on the shorter race is that I have to start Phase Two of P90X the following day at 6:00 am, and I think it would be best for everyone if I were, you know, alive and stuff.

On the topic of P90X, we’re cruising through Phase One, and have picked up a few new students. Luckily for you, THERE’S STILL ROOM AVAILABLE! It’s never too late to start exercising and getting into the best shape of your life. Next workout is Wednesday morning, and it’s the ever delightful Legs and Back, with a bonus Ab Ripper X thrown in for fun. You don’t have to do anything fancy, JUST SHOW UP  at 6:00 am Wednesday ready to work hard. We’ll be done and out of there well before work. I promise.

Well, it seems that these planets just keep on moving, so it’s time for me to wrap this up – I’m getting ready for next year, where I plan on being a body double for Cee Lo Green or Idi Amin – whoever needs it most.

I admit that I have been remiss in describing the day to day goings on with things relating to the KPBSD website. Rest assured there are a great many happenings daily. I spend a good deal of my day updating information on the site. This can be old forms being replaced by new, new events, news stories, even school lunch menu changes. Big changes don’t happen every day, but there are some exciting ones in the works. I’ll try not to give too much away, but I’ve been working with the Communications Department and the IT Department to implement a new change on the front page. This item will feature the reason that any of us working for the KPBSD are here; the students. Without them, none of this would exist. This is a tribute, in a way, to why we’re here. Another major change is a migration from our individual school websites from a remote server to our own servers. This last month has seen me create nearly 50 new websites using WordPress technology. My test school platform Awesome High School (WOMBAT POWER!) has been working very well to get administrators, secretaries and others up to scratch on posting events and information to their new blog site. A list of schools that have already made the jump, and a whack of other interesting blogs from around the District, can be found on the KPBSD Blog Directory (AKA “Blogpile” by popular vote thanks to the Teeming Millions). So, good things are happening, and more goodness is on the way.

Let’s just go ahead and file this under “Everything.”

First off, I haven’t been feeling up-to-scratch, and my weekend was filled mostly with medicine and disconcerting amounts of post-nasal drip. That it came on the heels of a flu shot, which my coworkers swear is the sole cause of my infirmity, is a mere coincidence.

Second, I did attend the Swapmeet for winter gear at Kenai Central HS on Saturday. I did not find skis, as I grossly underestimated the budget necessary for winter activities. That, and a friend who knows about such things insisted that I choose skis and apparel based on color. Wise words from one who knows. I considered a delightful pair of flippers, but decided against them, hoping that they would be better matched with someone who would look better in them than I would.

In help news, Master of All Things Hardware Casey has rededicated himself to his blog, and I have a current battle for blog supremacy with Jordan and his wildly helpful Helpdesk blog.

Speaking of bloggery and website funnery, we’re trying to come up with a name for the KPBSD Blog Server. Something more creative than “KPBSD Blog Server.” Ideas are encouraged. We can’t use Blogosphere, since that term is the collective term for all blogs. See poll at right or leave a comment. We have also created a Directory for some of the existing KPBSD blogs, so if you would like yours included, please let me know.

In wombat-related news, I recently found out that the animal collective term for wombat is a “mob.” The gratification I get from this tidbit of information is beyond understanding. I hope someday to encounter a wombat mob in the wild.

So there we have it. A bit of everything. I’ll thank my flu medications for the cohesion exhibited in this post. At least my nasal passages are happy.

I haven’t been working here for two months yet and here I am already blogging about wombats.

But today’s post is not for your average, garden variety wombat. Oh no.

Today I’m all about the AWESOME FIGHTIN’ WOMBATS.

For those of you unfamiliar with my job description, I manage the KPBSD website and associated online content. Part of this content is the District’s 44 schools’ homepages. Currently, the homepages are hosted by a third-party, and are set to expire soon. With that in mind, I have been researching other ways to have school websites with the following desirable attributes:

• Easy to manage
• Customizable
• Affordable
• Contains references to wombats

As luck would have it, the answer lies in our very own blogosphere. By using easy to learn and use WordPress technology and hosting the content on our own servers here at the District Office, we maintain content control and best of all, the price is right. In that it costs nothing more than everything we already have in place.

“But Mike, how do we become part of such an incredible and groovy system?” You ask.

The answer is Wombats.

Fightin’ Wombats, to be specific.

Awesome Fightin’ Wombats, to be quite specific.

Getting started with your own blog is easy, and if you want to manage and update your school’s blog (which will be the new official school website), that’s super easy, too. To begin, go to:

Awesome High School and enroll. You won’t be sorry.

Be sure to vote in the poll at right regarding the Awesome High School Wombat motto.

This has everything to do about starting a blog.

But nothing about finishing.