MACON, Ga. — Bibb County Schools held its District Convocation this morning at Luther Williams Field in Macon. With just one week until the first day of school, the event was meant to welcome faculty and teachers back and commemorate the 150th anniversary of the school district.
Dr. Dan A. Sims, the county’s new superintendent, appeared in a Macon Bacon jersey, singing along to hits from Bon Jovi, Mary J. Blige, Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers and Journey to help hype up the district employees ahead of the new school year.
Sims was announced as former superintendent Curtis Jones’s replacement earlier this year.
His message at the convocation centered around striving to impact students' lives each day, even referencing the hit song from Ice Cube, "It was a Good Day." to drive home his message.
“I have fallen in love with this great city, and I’m just excited about being superintendent,” Sims said. "As your superintendent, I have just adopted 20,000 children, so I am treating every single one of these children as if they are mine."
Sims highlighted the #Built4Bibb catchphrase in his speech as he explained its meaning and motivation as well as its application on a daily basis.
"When you hear #Built4Bibb, it not only represents what you have done to build yourself to this point," Sims said. "But it should also represent what you do every single day to align yourself with the needs of our students."
The ceremony also featured speeches from several current and past students, who testified to their schools’ impact on their academic, artistic, and social endeavors.
“Central was so important in my life, from what I learned in the classroom, on the playing field, to the friends I made today.” Oby Brown, a 1974 graduate of Central High School, said. "My 50-year reunion is coming up a little too fast."
The Teacher of the Year recipients from each school in the district were introduced, including the finalists for Macon-Bibb Teacher of the Year.
This year's finalists were Levita Carter from Bernd Elementary School, Jana Lambert from Springdale Elementary School, Cateah Collins from Weaver Middle School, Gina Glark from Southwest High School, and Carston Bradford from Hutchings College and Career Academy.
Collins was announced as the Bibb County Teacher of the year, and Carter was announced as the runner-up.
Bibb County saw some improvement in overall performance in this year’s Georgia Milestones testing; the scores were released a few days ago.
The first day of school in Bibb County this year is August 3.
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