I have attached a copy of the transportation waiver that parents will need to sign in order to drive their runner home from a weekend race. Please print it out, sign it, and hand it to me at the first race you decide to take your runner home from. I will have some copies at the race in Huntington beach for those who do not get this in time.

OK, so it is time for me to address the whole "swine" flu epidemic that has without a doubt taken a toll on our program. The H1N1 virus is at Trabuco and could have been contained very quickly, however, the administration has not acted at all to take any steps to control the spread of the virus as they stated they would on the district website. They are more than likely still assessing to threat level at this time. I have no control or voice when it comes to any of that. You as parents, however, do. Please keep your kids home at the first sign of illness (fatigue with a headache and/or fever). There are far too many coughing, congested, sickly athletes coming to practice everyday for me to feel even remotely comfortable gathering them together in large groups to practice. We have three or four runners out with either confirmed or probable H1N1 infections. My advice to athletes and parents is to keep even a mildly sick child home from practice. If teachers are unsympathetic, that is their problem, you have the ability to speak with counselors or administrators if a teacher does something that you feel is totally unreasonable. I am a professional educator and I know that it is my responsibility to adjust my curriculum to meet the needs of my students, not the other way around.

I also have totally selfish reasons for asking you to keep your sick kids home. I have two small children at practice everyday. Their immune systems are not as developed as a teenager's, making them more at risk to illnesses like the H1N1 virus. I have witnessed and put a stop to several coughing kids trying to shake hands, give hugs, or otherwise come into close contact with my children when they know that they are not well. Most of these kids are sitting around during practice because they say they are too sick to run. If they are too sick to run, then they are too sick to be anywhere but home.

My plan is this:

Send healthy kids to school with disinfectant wipes for desks and eating surfaces Give them a bottle of hand sanitizer and tell them to use it frequently throughout the day Remind them to not put non-sanitized hands in their mouths, eyes, or noses KEEP SICK KIDS HOME!!!!

Liam Clemons

Head Coach Boys' Cross Country

The Dana Hills Invitational is this Saturday at Dana Hills High School in Dana Point. Our buses will leave at 6:00 AM to arrive early enough for the freshman race.Directions to DHHS and more information about the meet can be found at http://www.dhhs.net/cc/dhinvite.shtml.

#4 in Orange County

#6 in C.I.F.Division 1

#8 in the State Division 1