Panther pride

By Beth Taylor

On Jan. 23, Rep. Susan Brooks presented the official Congressional Record honor to 2014 National Blue Ribbon Award-winning school Hamilton Southeastern Junior High School.  After presenting the honor, she toured the school and met with students and teachers to learn more about the top area school.

“This award is so special because 420 schools nation-wide received nominations, but only 287 throughout the country were chosen as National Blue Ribbon schools,” said Brooks. “You serve more than 1200 students here and are one of the largest junior high schools in my district and in the state; your incredibly high level of performance is why your school was recognized.”

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. “The honor is in the national record of the House of Representatives entered on Nov. 19, 2014,” said Brooks.

The National Blue Ribbon Award is an honoring of outstanding schools by the U.S. Department of Education. “It’s an indicator of what’s wonderful and what’s going on over time. The teachers and students should be proud of what they’ve been able to achieve. It’s a nod, or a seal of approval,” said Bev Smith, the director of school and community relations for Hamilton Southeastern Schools.

As the only junior high school to receive the award, Principal Tim Mankin explained what distinguishes HSJH from other junior high schools in the state.

“From day one, we have high expectations for everybody. We set those high expectations and then we measure the results, because no matter how good you are, you can get better,” said Mankin.

After presenting the record, Mankin escorted Brooks on a tour of the school. She stopped in the media center to talk with several eighth-grade students about their experiences at HSJH.

“It’s really cool that she’s here,” said eighth grader, Claire Wilkinson. “We’re so proud of our school.”

Brooks also visited science teacher Eric Brown’s classroom, where students were using a Van de Graff generator to learn about electric current. After walking by the technology and Spanish classrooms, Brooks noted the iPad use for both subjects.

“We use iPads as another teaching tool. We integrate it into the curriculum just as you would a book,” Mankin said. He explained that kids have become very responsible about attending to their iPads.

“I’m extremely proud of what you’re doing here. You are giving the kids an important head start,” said Brooks.

Mankin believes that HSJH’s success is due to forming a collaborative triangle with parents, staff and students. “Because discipline isn’t a real issue at our school, we get to focus on the positive. I call students down to the office for Student of the Month far more than for discipline issues,” Mankin said.

Teachers at HSJH focus on students’ learning objectives rather than concentrating on lesson plans. “If kids didn’t learn the objective for the day, then we go back and cover it again,” he said.

After receiving the Blue Ribbon Award nomination, Mankin formed a committee to help him compile information to fill out the application for the award.  “Once you get nominated, you get the opportunity to apply. It was a tremendous amount of work. It’s a 40-hour application that contains not just academic data, but almost a school improvement plan,” he said.

After receiving the official confirmation last September, Mankin, along with Language Arts teacher Jeff Libey, the HSJH Teacher of the Year, attended the ceremony in Washington, D.C. in November. “I remember everything about that trip,” Mankin said. “I met with other principals, we had breakout sessions and workgroups, we got to tour the city—and then the last day was the formal award ceremony.” Mankin even remembers what was on the menu, “chicken cordon bleu,” he said.

About the National Blue Ribbon Award

• Started in 1982
• Created by Secretary of Education Terrell H. Bell, named by President Ronald Reagan
• Schools can receive the award every five years
• More than 7,500 schools have been presented with the award
• The award recognizes public and private elementary, middle and high schools based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups.