Two area schools were recently announced as 2008 Banner Schools by the Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools. Just 14 schools statewide made the list.Nichols-Lawson Middle School in the Sylacauga City School System and Fayetteville, a Talladega County school, were chosen as two of the schools in Alabama to receive the honor this year.
“We’re so excited. This is the first time any school in our system has won,” Sylacauga Schools Superintendent Dr. Jane Cobia said.
The title of banner school is awarded annually by the CLAS to recognize schools that demonstrate outstanding programs and service to students, as well as high-quality opportunities for both students and teachers.
CLAS has offered the statewide recognition program since 2001. Schools are nominated by their individual superintendents for any special programs they have that stand out.
“It’s for innovative ideas and techniques that we think would best be shared to other schools and systems,” said Alyssa Godfrey, director of communications for CLAS. “The whole point is to share ideas and see what ideas can work best for other schools, too.”
Once the nominations are in, Godfrey said, the principal of each school is asked to submit an application that is judged by a committee of mostly retired education administrators in the state. That committee then picks typically between nine and 15 schools to become Banner Schools.
For Nichols-Lawson, Cobia said she nominated the middle school for a number of reasons. The school has been recognized by the state Attorney General’s Office for its Safe School Initiative and is involved in “Making Middle Grades Work,” a program sponsored by the Southern Regional Education Board to help systems across the South better know how to prepare adolescents for future success in education by visiting other schools to gain ideas.
She also cited the endless show of support and sense of teamwork Nichols-Lawson teachers have for one another and the unending drive and desire they have in regard to student achievement and performance.
“We were elated to receive this. We’re excited,” Nichols-Lawson principal Gerald Douglass said. “… We never give up on our students; we hang in there and make sure it gets done.”
Douglass said he and his faculty and staff are appreciative and fortunate to receive the support and nomination from Cobia, and he also believes it’s the programs like “Making Middle Grades Work,” the teachers’ strong dedication to working together and focusing on the needs and opportunities of the students, and the school’s transitioning plans for both elementary to middle school and middle to high school that make Nichols-Lawson shine.
“I think we have some balanced programs,” he said. “… All work for the good and the betterment of our students.”
Patsy Lagen, principal of Fayetteville School, said she believes the school’s participation in the 21st Century Schools Initiative and staff development are what set her faculty apart.
Fayetteville teachers have been heavily involved in the 21st Century Schools Initiative and recently attended the Innovative Teacher Forum hosted by Microsoft in Seattle to learn more. Lagen said from that Fayetteville teachers came home and initiated training on new technology in the classroom for teachers in the Talladega County School System.
“We feel very honored and appreciative that our superintendent is confident in what we are doing,” Lagen said.
Talladega County Schools Superintendent Dr. Cindy Elsberry said it is most assuredly Fayetteville’s technology use that caught her eye.
“The work that the teachers at Fayetteville have done in the area of using technology for instruction, not for teaching but for use in instruction, has been far beyond anything I’ve witnessed in my career,” Elsberry said.
She recalled a visit she and two Board of Education members paid to a fourth-grade class at Fayetteville. Elsberry said the students were so engaged in the teacher and the program she was utilizing for instruction that they never knew the visitors were there.
“When a classroom looks like that, you can be sure learning is taking place,” she said.
As part of the Banner School honor, each of the 14 winners will present a lecture session at the CLAS Summer Convention in Birmingham. The June convention is the largest gathering of school administrators in Alabama. Fayetteville plans to showcase its 21st Century program and Nichols-Lawson will highlight its transition plans and teacher efforts.
“Each banner school will present a breakout session and share what makes their program so great,” Godfrey said.
The Banner Schools will then be recognized for their achievement at a CLAS Awards Luncheon June 24 and will be presented with CLAS banners to hang in their schools.
“We’ll have an opportunity where we can show what we do, how the community supports us, how students perform and how our students are encouraged by teachers, parents and community alike,” Douglass said.
