Spirited assembly starts DCS school year
Students in Demopolis City Schools may return to classes Monday, but teachers have been preparing for the first day of school.
That was never more evident than the assembly of all DCS employees Wednesday in the Demopolis High School auditorium. Excited educators and staff greeted each other with hugs and waves as upbeat music played in the background.
“There’s good energy in the room,” said Supt. Tony Willis as he greeted everyone.
As Margie Jackson, special education teacher at U.S. Jones, started things off with her rendition of “Stand Up for Love,” the appreciative audience roared with approval and gave her a standing ovation.
Willis introduced eight traveling trophies that will be awarded at the beginning of each school year. The biggest cheer went to Patrick Allen and his crew at DHS when they received the Master Chef trophy. DHS also was recognized with the Service with a Smile trophy.
Demopolis Middle won for Student Attendance and Secondary Student Growth. Willis especially praised the 6th grade for its improvement. USJ earned trophies for Employee Attendance, Clean Campus and Elementary Student Growth, with the 3rd grade earning a shout-out. Westside Elementary earned the Safe Campus award.
School employees were given blue jerseys to wear. On the jerseys were their names and the year they joined the DCS system. Virginia Goodlett, who has taught the longest of any teacher in the system, sported the number “79” on her jersey.
New principals Alphus Shipman at USJ and Brandi Smith at DMS received their jerseys with “22” on them as Willis introduced them to the crowd. The principals from all four campuses than introduced the newcomers to their staff and presented them with their own jerseys.
“You’re on the team,” Willis told the crowd as he explained the jerseys. “I’m so proud and so excited.”
In his remarks, Willis said his first year as superintendent focused on the “Quest for Excellence.” Getting to the top is not easy, he said. DCS has done a good job of recognizing problem areas and heading in the right direction.
He shared how student growth improved over the past year with the results of standardized testing. With DIBELS, the assessment tool used for K-2, an improvement of 3 to 5 percent is considered good. WES beat the best. Compared to the previous year, Kindergarten was up 5 percent; first grade, 20 percent, and second grade, 12 percent.
In grades 3-8, reading was up 5 percent; math, 11 percent, and science, 13, percent. He singled out the third grade, which is the only grade the state DOE uses in comparison. USJ’s third grade ranked 21 out of 137 schools. Of the 20 schools ranking higher, none met a 50 percent poverty or diversity level; USJ is higher in both.
As for DHS, Willis continued, “in every single way we measure, we were higher or the highest than ever before.” Rates were up for graduation number, AP, dual enrollment, credentials, College and Career Readiness and ACT scores.
But Willis warned those dramatic increases will not be so easy in the future. “The closer you get to the top, the harder it is to show growth.”
Birmingham attorney Liz Huntley returned to give the motivational talk to the assembled at the request of those who heard her speak last year. The product of drug dealers who was sexually abused as a child credits teachers for saving her.
“In spite of all that, I am here,” she said. “My story is how God used education to save my life.”
Liz Huntley is a full-time litigation attorney, child advocate, nationally renowned motivational speaker and published author. She and her husband have two daughters and a son.
When children are facing problems, a teacher’s inclination often is to fix things, she continued. “You might not always fix it, but you can help a child live through it. I got through it because of people like you.”
Huntley is the founder of the Hope Institute which, she said, builds a culture of character. Now in 125 schools, include DHS, Huntley said, “The overarching idea (is) that the adult in the school cares.”
She said, “Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”