Queensbury Union Free School District’s Athletic Director Richard Keys will receive the NYSPHSAA/CASDA Section II Athletic Director of the Year Award. This award will be presented at the CASDA Annual Awards Dinner being held at Franklin Terrace in Troy on April 20th. This award recognizes Athletic Directors who make a significant impact on the lives of students, use athletics as a catalyst for a positive school culture, and contribute to the professional growth of their colleagues.

Keys has integrated the Queensbury athletics program into the fabric of both the school and community: for the past six years, the school district has been recognized as a Scholar Athlete School of Excellence, and additionally, Queensbury has been awarded the NYSPHSAA Award of Excellence for an exemplary display of sportsmanship, ethics and integrity. Keys has made significant contributions to the local community through both community service projects and the broader athletics community, serving in various roles – including vice president of Section 2. 

“Mr. Keys is an amazing administrator,” said Queensbury Superintendent of Schools Kyle Gannon. “He always puts students and the school at the forefront of his thinking. He is a tremendous asset to our school district and the greater Capital Region. I feel fortunate to work with him.” 

Keys revamped Queensbury’s Athletics Code of Conduct, and is meeting with every middle school student to get them involved in athletics and clubs; and he has also helped run food drives to benefit the school’s Snack Pack program. “He attends every sporting event at the school,” Gannon said. “He is a mentor to other administrators every year.”

Keys and his wife, Rachel, are the parents of three Queensbury graduates — daughters Courtney, Taylor and Mackenna — and a son, Colin, a sixth-grade student at Queensbury. Keys also coaches his son’s baseball team.

Richard Keys has led an athletics program that is a positive force in the school community and a tireless supporter of youth, making him an exemplary recipient of the Section II Athletic Director of the Year Award.

Throughout the 2022 to 2023 school year, the Glens Falls City Schools have been working towards replacing their Indian mascot, in complying with the New York State Education Department mandate. They will have a new mascot by June 30th, 2023. The successful transition from being the Glens Falls Indians to their next moniker includes keeping the community connected, getting input from students, families, the school community and alumni, and having the student cabinet leads make the final recommendations to the board of education.

The goal is to have the Glens Falls “Indians” name, mascot, and icons officially retired on June 30th.  The nominees for the new mascots include Knights, Wolves, Black Bears, and Hawks. While in the process of finding a new mascot, the Glens Falls City Schools have also established the community’s shared values – these include unity, support, passion, and grit. The school colors of red and black will remain as will GF Nation. The survey – sent out by Glens Falls City Schools – gives the options of voting for both your first and second choice between Wolves, Knights, Hawks, and Black Bears. This survey is available until March 30th.

“I voted for the Black Bears, but everyone thinks that it’s going to be the Wolves,” one Glens Falls senior said.  On April 3rd, 2023, student cabinet members will present the outcome of the voting to the Board of Education, with a motion for approval in the business portion of the meeting.

Glens Falls will officially retire their Indian logo on June 30th, 2023. If school districts fail to comply with the mandate, they could be penalized by having school officials removed, and state aid withheld.

The 2023 New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Boys Basketball Tournament is returning to Glens Falls! Everything will kick-off Thursday, March 16th, with a press conference at the Cool Insuring Arena beginning at 12:30 PM. Tournament Games start Friday morning. 

The schedule for the 2023 NYSPHSAA BOYS Basketball Championships is as follows: 

“For many, the basketball court at the Cool Insuring Arena has a certain mystique,” stated Glens Falls Mayor Bill Collins.  “In fact, some will say our basketball court is ‘sacred.’  From Mullen to Laettner, from Marbury to Huerter, from Jimmer to JG III.” 

“We may be ‘partial’ to a few of our Hometown USA favorites,” continued Collins, “but this list doesn’t even cover some of the legendary coaches or basketball programs that consistently win their Sectional Tournaments and withstand the rigors of the State Tournament to get to this weekend.  It’s why we say ‘The Road to Glens Falls. Where Legends are Made’.” 

“The Boys Basketball Tournament Committee and all the Volunteers make this weekend so special,” says Collins.  “Bill Higgins, Tom Sullivan, and Bill Wetherbee may no longer be with us, but their spirit lives on with how memorable this weekend continues to be.  And everyone who comes to Glens Falls for the Tournament can do so knowing they can check out our many restaurants, coffee shops, and attractions in one of the safest cities in the United States.” 

For more information regarding this weekend’s Boys Basketball Tournament, please check out the NYSPHSAA website. For more information regarding the press conference or any other issue in the City of Glens Falls, please reach out via email at communicationsdirector@cityofglensfalls.com, or tdrawbridge@cityofglensfalls.com. If your issue is urgent or if you’re looking to speak with Mayor Collins regarding a formal comment, please call (518) 920-4884.

Jacy Good and her husband Steve Johnson have spoken at 1,413 events, in 43 states and three countries. The couple recently spoke at Queensbury High School, where Jacy shared her personal story to implore the audience to “Hang Up And Drive”… Jacy lost the use of the left side of her body in a car crash in 2008 that killed both of her parents. Juniors and seniors at Queensbury High School heard the first-hand account of how distracted driving has forever altered her life.

Jacy showed Queensbury High School students how she puts her hair up in a ponytail with only one hand. “Think about the things that you love to do and then you imagine, can you do it with half of what you’ve got? I can’t run. I can’t ride a bike or throw a baseball around. These are my favorite things that I don’t get anymore, because a phone was more important,” she said. Jacy and her husband share their personal story as well as a message about distracted driving with their “Hang Up And Drive” campaign. The couple travels the country and the world, giving their presentation imploring people to stop using their phones while driving.

Jacy Good’s parents were driving her home from her college graduation in May of 2008 when a high school senior talking hands-free on his cell phone ran a red light.  This caused an 18-wheeler to swerve and plow head-on into the Goods’ car. Jacy’s parents both died in the crash. Jacy suffered two broken feet, a broken leg, a shattered pelvis, a broken wrist, a broken collarbone, a lacerated liver, partially collapsed lungs, damaged carotid arteries and a traumatic brain injury. She had a 10% chance of living through the first night. She survived a coma, blood clots, infections, rehabilitation, and physical therapy, and she re-learned to talk and walk. After four months, she was able to go home, but to a home without her parents. Much of the left side of her body still doesn’t work.

She eventually googled the car crash and learned what happened from news articles. Everything she read mentioned the phone. “Anything that’s not driving a car is distracted driving,” Jacy said. “It is a hand off the steering wheel, it is our eyes off the road, it is earbuds in our ears, it is what happened to me, it is our brains off the road. Multitasking is not an option when driving a vehicle. We need our brains to drive thousands of pounds of metal. We need our brains to talk to someone whom we can’t see,” she said. “We try to do them both at once, our brains hop back and forth. We are really good at tricking ourselves. You might not feel it.”

“These days it’s not just texting,” Johnson added, “but according to the surveys, it’s all the other things we’re doing on our smartphones all day long. We’re just doing them while we drive. There’s a lot of social media behind the wheel, people are surfing the web, people are writing emails, we’re changing songs on playlists and choosing podcasts, we’re playing with the GPS, we are taking photos and videos of ourselves and things around us.”

Jacy speaks openly about the loss that she has suffered and the challenges that she faces. Jacy appeared on TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress” television show when she picked out her wedding dress. “There is no mom to help me pick out that wedding dress because of a cell phone,” she said. “There is no last dance with my dad like I always thought I would get because of a cell phone. It hurts every bit as much today.”

For more information, go to www.hangupanddrive.com.