Thursday marked the kickoff for a campaign to bring "The Leader In Me" to all of the Bibb County School District's elementary and middle schools, and a special guest was in town as speaker. Sean Covey, author of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens" and executive vice president of global solutions and partnerships for Franklin Covey, spoke at Sonny Carter Elementary School about the initiative.

"It works because it starts with the idea that these kids are amazing," he said.

"The Leader In Me" uses the "7 Habits" originally outlined by Covey's father, Stephen, and includes concepts of teamwork and a commitment to goals. That teamwork is key, both between students and in building relationships between adults and kids.

"The key to building relationships is wanting the other person to win as much as you want to win yourself," Covey said.

Carter is one of 3,000 schools to implement "The Leader In Me" and one of four in Bibb County now, along with Burdell-Hunt, Bernd and Hartley elementary schools. Amanda Marsh has helped spearhead the effort at Carter and said that in-school suspensions were down 60 percent since implementing "The Leader In Me."

She also said that she had heard parents talk about the ways their children have begun to bring the concepts home with them.

"It has been able to build that common language at home as well," she said.

Blake Sullivan with the Business Education Partnership said that it would cost roughly $2.1 million to implement "The Leader In Me" across the District. To donate to this initiative, visit https://macontheleaderinme.com/.

On March 2, volunteers from across the community visited Bibb County schools to read to students as part of the "Read Across America" event.

The national event, organized by the National Education Association, celebrates the birthday of Dr. Seuss. As such, the readers chose from a selection of Dr. Seuss' works, like "Cat in the Hat" and "Fox in Socks." The volunteers included journalists, district employees and even Macon-Bibb County Mayor Robert Reichert.

“Reading is the core skill we all need to be successful at any task, assignment, or job, so I applaud the volunteers that took the time to read to children for Read Across America Day," said Reichert, who read at Vineville Academy of the Arts. "We need to show children that, even in an age of technology, reading is fun and important."

The Bibb County School District would like to thank all those individuals who took time out of their schedules to read to our students!

Members of the Northeast High School FFA chapter attended the Georgia FFA Association’s Greenhand Jamboree earlier this month at the Georgia FFA-FCCLA Center near Covington.

The theme of the two-day conference was “Dig your Roots.” FFA members were challenged to expand their comfort zones and get involved in agricultural education and the state FFA. Members of the Georgia state FFA officer team presented the conference and said they worked to show young agricultural education students the many benefits of becoming a member of FFA.

“The Greenhand Jamboree is a wonderful opportunity for young FFA members,” said State FFA Vice President, Sadie Lackey. “It’s important to start these students' FFA careers with an engaging, interactive experience, and that is what this conference does.”

At the Greenhand Jamboree, FFA members engaged in a personality test, developed leadership skills such as teamwork and communication, and learned the importance of goal setting.

The Miller Middle School academic team has competed in several competitions recently with success in each of them. Sixth-graders Khalil Harvey, Wilson Bridges and Henry Jennings finished second in the Cherry Blossom Academic Team sixth-grade division and finished in the top three places at the Riverside Optimist Club's competition. Khalil was the winner and also won the second round of competition to advance to the third round next month.

Earlier this year, the Miller academic team won the PAGE regional competition in Warner Robins. Congrats to all these young scholars!

Vineville Academy's character students of the month for February were recognized for showing virtue and overall trustworthiness. Pictured are Katie Tran, Kaiden Harvey, Journee Williams, Jurnee Parker, Madyson Torres, Jadee Palmer, Chloe Orgill, Zayvion Causey, Ayana Johnson, Gabby Patrick, Antwan Beck, T'Nia Moss, Clayton Sneeder, Madalyn Reeves, Ashley Cadena, Alayla Durham, Eboni Searcy, Amelia McGee, Jikaylee Marshall, Kishona McElroy, James Young and Chinyere Cody. Way to go!

Willliam S. Hutchings College and Career Academy was recently named "Campus of the Year" by the Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful Commission. The Hutchings administration would like to thank the custodial and maintenance staff for all their help making this award a possibility.

Several weeks ago, Pastor Chip Strickland, Senior Pastor at Riverside United Methodist Church, challenged his congregation to collect books for each of the students at Northwoods Academy. Within a short period of time, his congregation exceeded their goal and delivered more than 300 books to the students and teachers at Northwoods Academy. Thank you to Riverside United Methodist Church for their commitment to providing for our students and encouraging literacy.

On March 4, the Central High School drill team attended the Area 12 Region Drill Meet at Griffin High School. The following individuals and groups placed in their respective categories:

First place - Female Unarmed platoon commanded by Cadet 2nd Lt. Hope Walker, Male Color Guard Regulation commanded by Cadet Capt. Omaury Robinson and Female Armed Platoon commanded by Cadet Maj. Latrallis Guy.

Second place - Female Color Guard commanded by Cadet Capt. Shanara Willis, Female Armed Squad commanded by Cadet 2nd Lt. Arnequa Wright and Regulation unarmed platoon commanded by Cadet 2nd Lt. Jarvis Holt.

Third place - Female unarmed squad commanded by Cadet Command Sgt. Maj. Tytianna Person.

Several students from Sonny Carter Elementary School visited the Rotary Club of Macon's recent meeting to promote "The Leader in Me" program. The program teaches students leadership traits that will help them both in and out of the classroom. Four Bibb elementary schools are currently implementing "The Leader in Me" - Carter, Burdell-Hunt Magnet School, Bernd Elementary School, and Hartley Elementary School.

Southwest High School recently hosted a College and Career Day, with employers, colleges and universities represented in the school's gym. Graduation coach Chanda Williams said the goal was to make students aware of their options after leaving Southwest.

"This event is about beginning the process of preparing for their post-secondary studies," she said.

It wasn't just about college, though. Employers like Georgia Power and even representatives of the U.S. military branches were there to speak to students.

"They need to understand they have other options," Williams said.

Senior Ta'Lereah Howard said that the opportunity to "interact with colleges" was valuable. She specifically pointed to Talladega College, which was providing the chance for students to be admitted on the spot.

"I think that's a really good opportunity," said Howard, who plans to attend Georgia Southern and major in biology.

Earlier this month, 69 students from Lane Elementary were rewarded for their hard work in reading with an Accelerated Reader field trip to Amerson River Park. The students played on the playground, hiked to the river, enjoyed pizza from Marco's, jumped rope, blew bubbles, and drew with sidewalk chalk.

Louisa McDonald’s Advanced Placement (AP) Environmental Science classes at Howard High School visited the Macon Water Authority (MWA) Rocky Creek water reclamation facility, which also included biosolids reclamation. The students wish to thank MWA tour guides Dale Johnson and Dorrell Singleton, who are pictured with the students.

Students at Alexander II Math & Science Magnet School were challenged to raise at least $600 to benefit the homeless community in Macon, served by the organization Daybreak. Teachers Tiffany Ellington and Tachovia Kendrick offered to receive a pie in the face on the school's WALX Morning News show if students raised over $600 for Daybreak. Students exceeded that challenge and raised more than $800 in contributions for Daybreak. Students and staff thoroughly enjoyed watching both teachers receive a pie in the face on the morning news show, which was broadcast live in their classrooms on their interactive panels.

Central High School students attended a flight simulation field trip at the Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base. The flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design or other purposes. The students enjoyed being able to find out more about this device and everything that is required in order to fly an airplane. The students were able to put on the gear and land planes successfully.

As president of the Georgia Science Teachers Association, Brian Butler visited the state Capitol building for Georgia Science Teachers Day. Butler, pictured in the back left, is the District's School Improvement Coordinator for Science, and we appreciate him representing us well in Atlanta!

The following students were named students of the month for February at Bernd Elementary School: Kerrick Bozeman, Cherish Eason, Joseph Reynolds, Zerrick Rouondtree, Chris Salas, Aliah Smith, Nyleeyah Francis, Jackson Dillard, Jekyla Battle, Anaya Miller, Charles Burch, Kory Stewart, Rod Bailey, Annie Slaugher, Azoria Taylor, Jasmin Hill, Zacole Blount, Joshua Biddle and Isaiah Smith. Way to go!

Recently, Macon-Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones and members of the Macon-Bibb Coutny Fire Department, EMS and the Bibb County Sheriff's Office visited Rutland High School to talk to the students about the dangers of drunk driving.

Jones wanted to them to know that it was the right idea to "swallow your pride" if they found themselves needing to call for a ride.
"It's important because you let them know it's real out there," Jones said of the visit, which included a DUI crash rescue simulation. "This isn't a game."

Earlier this month, the Hartley Elementary chorus performed for the first time in a competition at Highland Hills Baptist. We're proud of all our performance groups across the district!

GEAR UP sponsored Seminoles SWAG (Saving While Achieving Goals) Night at Westside High School last month. During this event, six colleges were present to entice students to apply and attend their campus in the fall. Seniors were able to apply and be accepted on the spot if they met the college's requirements for admissions. Students and parents were also able to receive information about financial aid and scholarships available.

Students and teachers at Williams Elementary School recently celebrated Exceptional Week to recognize the special education program. The Bibb County School District is grateful for all the work done by the Program for Exceptional Children staff across the district!

Southwest High School hosted a blood drive through the American Red Cross in the school's auditorium recently. The American Red Cross set a goal of 25 pints for the event, which the Patriots were able to exceed by collecting 28 pints. The blood drive is an annual community service project for Southwest's FBLA and DECA chapters.

Congratulations to Howard High School's Hannah Williams who placed first in the 2017 Craig Harding Memorial Court Artist Contest during the Mock Trial Competition in January. The school is also proud of its other two Howard High Court Artist contestants, Kieran Brown and Emily Childress.