SUPER MONDAY

A motivational and informational morning message from Superintendent Willis

Week 1 ~ August 12th, 2024

Super Monday Message

Welcome back Piute County School District! We’re so excited to get school started again tomorrow. We hope you had the best summer. 

In 1985 the first Blockbuster Video opened for business. The video renting business was a big hit and within 5 years Blockbuster Video was sponsoring college football bowl games. However, within 10 years the world started changing. DVD’s were coming onto the market and Wal-Mart’s low price model was cutting into movie rental profits. Blockbuster began creating loyalty programs with rewards to keep the rental enthusiasm alive. 

In 1997 a dorky little company called NetFlix got started. They rented movies online through the mail. It wasn’t very convenient to rent through the mail when the Blockbuster Video down the street was open late. A few years after NetFlix got started they approached Blockbuster about buying them out for $50 million. Blockbuster reportedly “laughed [them] out of the room.”

In 2002 the movie rental industry got more interesting. Redbox began development of their kiosk model, Netflix went public with their initial stock offering, and Blockbuster realized acquiring other companies might be a good idea. Blockbuster purchased another brick & mortar movie rental chain and a video game rental chain. Blockbuster actually refused to acknowledge Netflix as a competitor at the time.

Blockbuster peaked in 2004 with over 9,000 stores, but even then the winds of change were blowing strong. In 2004 the first Redbox was successfully tested and Netflix crossed over 1 million subscribers receiving DVDs in the mail each month.

By 2007, Redbox had more locations than Blockbuster and Netflix had over 5 million subscribers. In 2007 Netflix also introduced an online movie streaming service. Though Blockbuster had opportunities to buy both companies, those opportunities disappeared as they grew. Blockbuster tried copying their models by starting Blockbuster Express (Blue box kiosks), and Blockbuster Online (Online rentals by mail), but they were too far behind in both markets to catch up. Blockbuster Online was successful enough to scare Netflix. At one point Netflix offered a partnership with Blockbuster, but Blockbuster refused the deal. 

Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy in the fall of 2010. Ten years later the Blockbuster store in Bend, Oregon became the last remaining store on the planet. It’s still open today! This summer Redbox began liquidating all their assets and laying off all their employees. However, Netflix is still growing. They have over 270 million subscribers worldwide and are beating much more impressive competitors than Blockbuster and Redbox. $10,000 invested in Netflix in 2008 would be worth well over $1 million today. 

As we start a new school year, remember that every student has unlimited potential. There will be opportunities and challenges along the way, but every student has the potential to innovate and achieve their own version of success. The careers and businesses they will build may not exist right now, but we can help them build a solid foundation for whatever future they choose to pursue. We are so grateful for our partnerships with you in building a great tomorrow for our students. Let’s have the best school year!

Super High Fives

Just a couple of the awesome recent accomplishments that need a big thank you. 

• A super high five to State Bank of Southern Utah, Wade Fautin, and Rodney Mayo for all their work on the new baseball scoreboard. State Bank helped get the scoreboard to us and then Wade and Rodney led the way on getting it installed. A big thank you to Morgan Hoyt and everyone in the metal shop that helped build the top panel as well.
• A super high five to our summer retirees, Roxie Beus and Toni Thompson. They have been an excellent pair at Circleville Elementary and have done a great job for our students. We’re grateful for their time and effort and wish them a great retirement.
• A super high five to Wade Fautin. Our bus driver/mechanic/maintenance worker/transportation director has been working on district vehicles wherever he can find a space for the last year and has been working hard to build the new garage by the high school. We appreciate his hard work.

Other Super Information

• Fall Sports Calendar 2024
• 2024-2025 School District Calendar
• Truth-In-Taxation Hearing Presentation
• Latest Elementary Schools Design Draft
• New Elementary Schools Information

Super Weekly Schedule