Woodlawn Principal's Blog 2/7/25

  • Posted February 7, 2025

2/7/25

Another week is over!  We keep moving along here and the students, with just a couple of bumps in the road, are doing great.  Next Friday is Valentine's Day so check out our Spirit Week flyer.  I hope that everyone has a great weekend and that the Super Bowl is a good one.  I am more excited about the commercials this year.  

Upcoming Dates:

2/14- Half Day- Students dismissed at 11:10 AM

2/17- No School

2/18- Early Release- Students dismissed at 1:30 PM

Science Olympiad - From our coaches.  

The Woodlawn students in Science Olympiad have been super busy working on some extremely difficult science. From the hands-on build events to the more academic content-heavy events, our students have shined at our invitationals. Yesterday we attended our third and last before regionals. Our students brought home an impressive 28 medals between varsity and junior varsity placings. At the end of the night, both Varsity and Junior Varsity took home the overall first-place title in their respective categories. They competed against 53 teams and each came out on top.

Also, a special side note about varsity members Mohini Saraf and Phillip Matthews who took first place in their event Reach for the Stars in a different satellite competition called MSO Battle of the States. The competition extends across 8 states and has about 100 teams competing. We placed in a few events in their first session and continued to compete but Mohini and Phillip took 1st out of 91 teams that participated in that particular event. What an accomplishment for them! Listening to Mohini yesterday discuss her desire for a future major in Astrophysics in college was a reassurance that I’m in the right place to help push students to future success in their fields. 

Way to go Science Olympiad!

Spirit Week - Sponsored by Student Council

We are sponsoring our Valentine’s Spirit Week this week.  Check out the fun things our students can participate in!  

Dessert Day

Thank you to the PTO for sponsoring another tasty Dessert Day!  Yummy good.  The students started their Super Bowl weekend, where the diet goes out the weekend with the choice of 10 different ice cream options.  Good times.  Thanks, PTO! 

Ski Trip

Our students have been able to go on our ski trip up to Alpine Valley three times this winter.  It is one of those fun things where the students get to experience our ski trip regardless of their skill level.  Special thanks to Ms. Gordon for all of her hard work, in organizing and planning this fun trip.  

Virtual Backpacks

District Virtual Backpack: https://www.kcsd96.org/about/virtual-backpack

Woodlawn Virtual Backpack: https://www.kcsd96.org/w/virtual-backpack

Click here for the Woodlawn Daily Announcements

Finally, it is time to do your homework for the Super Bowl. Each year I like to give you some fun facts about the Super Bowl and some of the betting lines so that you can be an expert at your party.  The first fact that I will give you is whatever Super Bowl number it is LIX (59) equates to my age.  Worthless trivia right there.  Check out these fun little tidbits:

  • The game will be held at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, home to the Saints.
  • This marks the eighth time a Super Bowl has been played at the Superdome and the 11th time the game has been held in New Orleans. No other city besides Miami has hosted as many Super Bowls.
  • Kansas City is making its third straight Super Bowl appearance, becoming the first NFL team of the modern era to have a chance at a "three-peat," having won its last two championship bids.
  • This is also the Chiefs' fifth Super Bowl appearance in the last six years. They've advanced to -- or past -- seven straight AFC championships, coming within one game of matching the all-time record set by the New England Patriots from 2011-2018.
  • Super Bowl LIX is a rematch of Super Bowl LVII, when the Chiefs played the Eagles to close the 2022 season in Glendale, Arizona. The Chiefs won that last Super Bowl meeting, 38-35, overcoming a 10-point halftime deficit to beat the Eagles on a last-minute field goal by Harrison Butker.
  • The Chiefs entered this postseason as the AFC's No. 1 seed, finishing with an NFL-best 15-2 record and enjoying a first-round bye in the playoffs. The Eagles claimed the NFC's No. 2 seed with a 14-3 record, then won three straight home playoff games to reach the Super Bowl.
  • The two teams share a history at the head coaching position: Chiefs coach Andy Reid spent 14 seasons running the Eagles from 1999-2012. Current Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, meanwhile, began his NFL career as a Chiefs assistant, working for Kansas City from 2009-2012.
  • The Chiefs are the NFL's gold standard with perennial Super Bowl contention, but the Eagles are also making their third Super Bowl appearance in the last eight seasons.
  • The Chiefs Patrick Mahomes, in his second full season as the starter (2019), was named Super Bowl MVP that year, becoming one of the youngest signal-callers in NFL history to claim a Lombardi Trophy, at age 24.
  • The Chiefs lost their Super Bowl LV appearance to close the 2020 season, however, falling 31-9 to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Mahomes threw two interceptions under heavy pressure in defeat, which marked Brady's record seventh and final title.
  • Prior to their championship bout with the Chiefs in 2022, the Eagles also reached Super Bowl LII in 2017, famously upsetting Brady and the Patriots to claim their first-ever Lombardi Trophy. Those Eagles were led by backup quarterback Nick Foles, who won Super Bowl MVP as an injury replacement.
  • Mahomes hasn't ranked among the NFL's most dynamic passers in recent seasons, but he thrives in crunch time, leading the Chiefs to a record 17 straight one-score victories. His backyard-style mobility has especially come in handy during tight games.
  • Tight end Travis Kelce, who's finishing his 12th season, remains Mahomes' favorite target in the passing game. He logged a career-low 8.5 yards per catch this year but led the team with 97 receptions.
  • The Eagles are the designated "home" team for the game; this designation rotates between the AFC and NFC each year. As a result, they got first choice of their uniform for the game, and elected to wear their signature Midnight Green jerseys, which they also wore against the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII.
  • With the Eagles wearing green, the Chiefs will wear their white away jerseys. Teams wearing white jerseys in the Super Bowl are 16-4 in the last 20 title games. The only two teams to win wearing home colors over the last decade are ... the Chiefs and the Eagles.
  • Ron Torbert will serve as the game's referee. He previously refereed Super Bowl LVI (2021).
  • Grammy-winning singer Jon Batiste will perform the pregame national anthem, while Ledisi will sing "Lift Every Voice and Sing."
  • Grammy-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar will headline the halftime show.

Super Bowl Ads

This year, a 30-second advertisement will cost companies a record $7 million.

For comparison, here is the price increase over the last 50 years.

  • Super Bowl IV, 1970 – $78,200
  • Super Bowl XIV, 1980 – $222,000
  • Super Bowl XXIV, 1990 – $700,400
  • Super Bowl XXXIV, 2000 – $2.1 million
  • Super Bowl XLIV, 2010 – $2.954 million
  • Super Bowl LIV, 2020 – $5.6 million
  • Super Bowl LVII, 2023 - $6.5 million 
  • Super Bowl LVIII, 2024: $7 million 

Coin Toss Trends:

  • Tails has won 30 times; Heads has won 28 times in Super Bowl history.
  • Tails has hit in 5 of the last 6 Super Bowls (as of 2024).
  • The last team to win the coin toss and win the game was the Seahawks in Super Bowl 48 (teams are currently on a 9-game losing streak after winning the toss).

National Anthem Length: Over/Under

  • The National Anthem performance is another highly anticipated Super Bowl moment, with oddsmakers setting an over/under on the song's length from the first note to the final word.

Recent National Anthem Lengths:

  • Super Bowl 58 (Reba McEntire): 102 seconds (Under hit)
  • Super Bowl 57 (Chris Stapleton): 125 seconds (Over hit)
  • Super Bowl 56 (Mickey Guyton): 108 seconds (Over hit)
  • Super Bowl 55 (Eric Church & Jazmine Sullivan): 123 seconds (Over hit0
  • Jon Batiste will sing the national anthem in under 120.5 seconds (+114) FYI- He sang the National Anthem at the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament in 2017 and was well under 120 seconds.  

Gatorade Color Dumped on the Winning Coach

  • One of the most fun postgame Super Bowl traditions is the Gatorade shower, where players drench their coach with a cooler full of sports drink. This prop bet focuses on predicting the color of the Gatorade used.

Recent Gatorade Colors in the Super Bowl:

  • Super Bowl 58: Orange
  • Super Bowl 57: Purple
  • Super Bowl 56: Blue
  • Super Bowl 55: Blue
  • Super Bowl 54: Orange

Odds for Super Bowl 59 Gatorade Color:

  • Orange (+250) – Most common choice
  • Blue (+350) – Popular in recent years
  • Yellow/Green (+400) – Seen multiple times
  • Red (+500) – Rarely used
  • Purple (+700) – Hit in 2023
  • Clear/Water (+900) – Less likely

If the Chiefs win, orange is a strong pick based on past trends. If the Eagles win, yellow/green could be the choice, matching their team colors.

First Super Bowl Commercial: Which Brand Appears First?

Super Bowl commercials are a major spectacle, and betting on which brand will air first is a popular novelty prop.

Top Contenders for First Commercial:

  • Doritos (+250) – A Super Bowl staple
  • Bud Light (+300) – Longtime major advertiser
  • Pepsi (+350) – Sponsor of past Halftime Shows
  • DraftKings/FanDuel (+400) – Growing presence in sports betting ads
  • Apple (+600) – Surprise appearance possible

Odds for First Celebrity Cameo:

  • Taylor Swift (+200) – Attending the game as Travis Kelce’s girlfriend
  • Peyton Manning (+300) – Regular in Super Bowl ads
  • Kevin Hart (+500) – Known Eagles fan
  • The Rock (+600) – Has appeared in past promos

Swift’s high-profile relationship with Travis Kelce makes her the favorite to appear in an ad early in the broadcast.

Tom Brady’s Tie Color Prop

Here are our options:

  • Blue (+175)
  • Gray/silver (+300)
  • No tie (+320)
  • Red (+600)
  • Black (+1200)
  • Green (+1200)
  • Pink (+1200)
  • Yellow (+1200)

And my favorite prop bet…Will Travis propose to Taylor? 

I am saying even money.  For you Taylor fans, it would be quite the “Love Story”. 

Must-Have Super Bowl Foods: