On the eve of this New Year, I’d like to thank you for your service to the young people in our region, who can never have too many loving and supportive adults in their lives.  Henry David Thoreau writes, “To affect the quality of the day is the highest of the arts.”   You have the privilege and the challenge of affecting the quality of students’ lives every day with the magic — and hard work — of learning and the promise of many Happy New Years.