Setting the tone for the school year was important for the administration of the Marion County School District.
Superintendent Wendy Bracey said that a session for all of the administrators and staff on July 27 helped get the school year off to a “great start.”
“We held a big convocation at East Marion that built momentum,” she said. “Our motto is ‘Inspiring Excellence,’ and we want to carry that through. The convocation was full of energy and enthusiasm. Our theme for this year was, ‘Let the Journey of Excellence Begin.’”
Bracey said the path toward the convocation begin with a leadership retreat for administrators earlier in the summer.
“We used a book, ‘Mindset,’ by Carol Dweck, a psychologist,” she said. “She has done a lot of research about the differences between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. Our goal when using that resource is to guide our students, our parents and our community to a deeper, truer growth mindset. In this book, she shows how success in school, work, sports, the arts and almost every area of human endeavor can be dramatically influenced by how we think about our talents and abilities. People with a fixed mindset – those who believe their abilities are fixed – are less likely to flourish than those with a growth mindset – those who believe that abilities can be developed. ‘Mindset’ reveals how great parents, teachers, managers and athletes can put this idea to use to foster outstanding accomplishment.”
Bracey said the use of the “Mindset” principles could have a positive effect on education of students in Marion County and beyond.
“We’re trying to motivate them to have the right mindset so that they can lead, teach and help others to that good mindset to love themselves,” she said.
During the convocation, teachers and staff introduced their schools through music, dance and cheers. Bracey said each school also shared an individual motto. East Marion Elementary School’s motto is, “Get in the Game! Teamwork makes the Goals Work!” At East Marion High School, the motto is, ‘Soaring to New Heights.”
Likewise, each of the West Marion schools have adopted mottos, including West Marion Primary, which is “Going from Good to Great! 212 degrees.” At West Marion Elementary, the motto is, “Growing Minds One Trojan at a Time.” West Marion High School has chosen, “Kicking It Up a Notch.”
“In between introducing themselves, we did team building activities,” Bracey said. “These team building activities that we did were done with Mr. (Michael) Day (director of curriculum, assessment and testing) and some of our coaches. They have been used in some of our trainings here, along with at our new teacher orientation.”
At the convocation, Central Office staff led the Pledge of Allegiance, which was followed by Brenda Pittman singing the National Anthem. Shannon Willis, youth minister as First Baptist Church gave the invocation and spoke with the group.
Bracey and Day presented the same ideas to other educators on the Coast at the Connections Conference.
“We trained principals, superintendents and teachers from around the state how to energize their staff using the same concepts,” Day said. “There have been teachers and administrators from around the state who have emailed or Facebooked us to say they have used the activities we presented on the Coast. You’ve got to have the right music and the right activity. I started things with ‘We Will Rock You,’ and that’s what we’re going to use to get in the testing mode. I tell them that we will rock that test.”
Day and Bracey agreed that the sessions helped create an attitude that made the opening of school “the best first day start, ever.”
“In the classrooms, we have had tons of team building activities and spirit,” Bracey said. “One of the teachers told me that one of her students’ parents called her and said, ‘My kid came home so excited about the start of school because of team building activities.’ He said that it was the best first day start, ever.”
Pictured Above: Teachers participate in team building exercises during the convocation held at East Marion High School. | Submitted Photo
