Head Cheerleader (and budding lawyer and judge) Cici Barland met us at the bus for our last stop of the day, Crockett High School. Last year, Crockett hosted our all-district Convocation, so I recognized a lot of people, including Cici, who is now a senior!
Speaking of familiar faces, I dropped in on two teachers that have become familiar to me over the past few months.
I met this year’s AISD Teacher of the Year, Sarah Dille, when I visited her classroom last spring, and then at the Salute event when she was named as Teacher of the Year. So it’s great to be back with her in her classroom at Crockett, with a new group of students. They are so fortunate to be in her class.
Next, I went to visit a teacher who I’ve gotten to know over the summer, when he helped bring our video presentation to life at our all-staff convocation. Adam Miller is a government and history teacher at Crockett, but he is also an artist. He uses his skills as an artist to bring his lessons to life for his students.
Of course, there is no bigger advocate for Crockett High School than its principal, Craig Shapiro. I have had the good fortune to join Mr. Shapiro in welcoming students back to school in the Crockett courtyard, and this year was no different. I was fortunate to participate in the traditional first day of school pep rally. To the beat of the drum line, we made our way up the stairs and through the outside corridors to the courtyard. There, all 1,700 Crockett students appeared to have crowded into every inch of space to celebrate the start of a new school year.
Leading the pep rally were the cheerleaders, drum line, color guard, Tex-Ann dancers, volleyball team, and football team. They were a spirited group! It was an invigorating way to end a 12-hour long, happy first day of school.
I congratulated Crockett for these successes in UIL Academic competition:
All in all, it was a successful start to another school year. Our students arrived at school safely and were ready to learn. I’m so proud of our staff for doing such a great job of making sure schools were not just open, but inviting places to be where we launched immediately into teaching.
I’ll go now and get lots of rest to prepare for the next round of school visits tomorrow.
Welcome back AISD!