Jennings is Making History: Our Community and Children are Amazing!

For educators, the start of a new school year is like New Years Day because we feel the newness and excitement, we have resolutions and new plans, and we are optimistic about the things to come. (It is only a matter of continuous planning and working the plan.)  

What an amazing and awesome first week of school for Jennings, thanks to scores of great people and planning!  Thank you for making this possible. I literally have to preach a sermon in a few hours today, but I am moved to send this message first.

Thank you for your support. Because of you and your partnering with us, Jennings is #1 in the region for graduation outcomes as well as 100% college and career placement.  We had 97% of students graduate in May of 2017 and then 7 more students to graduate in June of 2017. To create this story, KSDK 5 was with Jennings on Monday (Aug. 7th, the first day for all staff) and Thursday (Aug.10th, the first day of school for students) of this week. Thank you for this positive news for the community. 

We had Jennings' Fairview Elementary School rank as the top #5 school in the St. Louis Regional in Math on the state MAP test. 

This week, we had over 200 greeters at Jennings schools for the first day to welcome our students with love, positive words of encouragement, and the right spirit. Check out the message to our community and children. Thank you, Greater Grace, Believer's Temple, Muhammad's Mosque, Regions Bank, Better Family Life, Maxine Clark, and all of the partners who came out on our first day. 

Thank you for an amazing start of this 2017-18 school year with our leaders and staff too for a great 2017 New Teacher Induction, Convocation, and Professional Development/Learning. Thank you to World Wide Technology for hosting our Leadership Retreat on August 1st and providing breakfast, lunch, 50 books and setting THE PATH for being a best place to work.

Thank you to all of our partners who attended and presented at the Convocation on August 7th including NSBE, Children's Hospital, MHDCHC, NFTE, Mr. Bob Fox, Mr. Jeff Smith, Mrs. Stangl, and Carol Daniels from KMOX. As shared doing our Convocation presentation on August 7th, several links are provided below that goes directly to the media outlet showing our collective successes. 

• Jennings Senior High College and Career Prep Academy the highest in the region.
• Maryville Jennings Robotics and STEM Training 
• https://www.kmov.com/story/35380314/clinic-in-jennings-school-district-offering-safe-haven-for-students (SPOT Clinic) 
• PAL and Jennings Working Together to start Boxing at Jenning's Gore Community Center 
• National Society of Black Engineers honors Jennings student and gives award to Jennings for STEM program
• Social Justice Work -Jennings Bridging Gaps, Creating gardeners with St. Louis Police Department, Michael Brown Foundation, and Jennings 
• Meet Jennings Northview Student Mikey Wren: 10-year-old business owner, and best-selling author

The Fox-Clark Family Foundation has donated 50 copies of the book "Mr. Smith Goes to Prison." After Mr. Jeff Smith's presentation about the Prison System, I shared and charged all Jennings staff to continue to be Jail cell Closers through ensuring 100% graduation, engagement, enlightenment, and empowerment of our children and community.

Because of Mr. Johnny Furr and his leadership as the head of Sigma Pi Phi-Eta Boule Chapter, the Bigs of Big Brothers Big Sisters had a few Jennings students at the National Urban League Conference. Also, I brought our Men on Business Student Leaders to the conference for my panel presentation and more. 

These Men on Business students spoke with National Urban League President Marc Morial and served as volunteers (to give away bags) at the new UL Ferguson Center ribbon cutting ceremony to kick off the National Urban League Conference. Jennings is a proud partner of the Save Our Sons Program. 

The August 12th, 2017, Jennings Jamboree was superb and at the highest level of excellence seen thus far in Jennings. There were more partners, companies, non-profit groups, staff, parents, alumni, animals--for the petting zoo, and even more gifts and students than we ever had.

I want to thank everyone who helped to make the 2017 Jamboree a tremendous success. The Jamboree Committee Members helped provide many great experiences from the petting zoo to voter registration, a helicopter, Project X, and one of the leading actors and Jennings Alumnus of the movie, Get Out, Marcus Henderson. 

During the event with 2000 attendees, it took many of us to a special time and place of love--it felt like the 1970's or 1980's--where we were one united family as a community. You could feel the love, peace, hope, and joy in nearly every person. I was proud to see our children loving life and enjoying being together with the adults of the community. It touched me to see over 500 young male teenagers laughing, playing, helping, and having fun. There was no profanity, no fighting, no gangs, no wrongs, no sorrow.  Missouri State Representative Cora Faith Walker issued us an official Missouri Resolution from the House to forever seal our success in history with the state of Missouri.

Then to juxtapose what we experienced in Jennings to what was occurring in other places in the U.S. at the time, made it all the more clear of how special our community really is and can continue to be in the context of our nation and world. We have come a long way since August 2014, where Jennings was closed on the first day of school like other districts for safety reasons. This progress is not because of any one person but because of all of us being strong, loving, leaders and people of a positive purpose.

As a chief educator and Jennings Warrior, we are at war against ignorance. I need your help again this school year. We must all engage, empower, and enlighten as if our life, legacy, and liberty depend on it. Because they do. 

Collectively, we are working to raise our standard of excellence. I've seen it and know that the children, the community, and even, the nation and the world can and will follow.