General manager
STARKE— Concerned Citizens of Bradford County presented a service honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King on Monday at the Florida National Guard Armory.
Glenda J. Ruise presided over the ceremony, which featured music by Keith Taylor Sr., prayer and pledge by Makalyn Almore, and recognition of Santa Fe College’s Trio programs, the Bradford County Cowboys Athletic Association, and students.
Value of athletics
Bradford School District Superintendent Will Hartley was the featured speaker.
Hartley started his speech by recognizing the student-athletes in the crowd and emphasizing the importance of athletics in secondary education.
“I believe that all of our children have a ticket to success, and for some, it’s academic, for some, it’s a specific job skill, and for others, it’s athletics,” he said, “and so we have to do our part to nurture all of these talents.”
Hartley said athletics can also unify the community, citing the high school football team’s December 8 appearance in the Class 2S State championship game in Tallahassee.
“I’ve never been more proud to be from Bradford County than I was that night,” he said. “The sense of unity and everyone pulling together for our children is what we should all be striving for in every aspect of what we do here in Bradford County.”
Hartley told the crowd that athletics played a crucial part in the civil rights movement when Jackie Robinson broke the Major League Baseball color barrier in 1947.
“Toward the end of his career, he became very outspoken in terms of civil rights, and there was a certain group of press along with several others, civil rights leaders who really felt like he shouldn’t be so outspoken,” Hartley said. “They were concerned that it would tarnish his own legacy.”
The superintendent added that King supported the Brooklyn Dodgers first baseman, stating that Robinson was an excellent spokesperson for the movement.
“From that point on,” Hartley said, “at least for a short period of time in the civil rights movement, Jackie Robinson was actually the most requested public speaker in terms of civil rights.”
The superintendent then summarized the school system’s achievements over the past three years.
Hartley said that when he took office three years ago, the business operations of the school district were substandard. He said that through hard work and tough decisions, the district’s human resources and finance departments are now improved to the point that the school system was able to give teachers raises for the first time in three years.
Hartley also highlighted the district’s Para-to-Pro program, which enables the district’s paraprofessionals to undergo training and obtain teaching certificates.
“Right now,” he said, “I know we have several people that are just getting ready to finish this program, and they will become certified teachers in Bradford County, so I’m extremely proud of that.”
Hartley said other achievements the district has seen under his watch include the opening of Bradford Elementary School’s new state-of-the-art campus and the addition of the Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education at Bradford High School.
Breaking barriers
Hartley also noted the emergence of two schools from turnaround status, with the high school climbing from a D grade to a C and Lawtey Elementary jumping from a D to a B.
“Had the growth component been added into the school grades this year,” he said, “one of them actually would’ve went from a D to an A and one would’ve went from a D to a B, and so we’re extremely proud of that work.”
The schools chief said that through a partnership with Camp Blanding and the North Florida Land Trust, 180 acres were donated to the district to build a commercial truck driving range east of Starke.
“Some of you may know that the truck driving school at North Florida Technical College is one of our most successful programs,” he said, “and a lot of our people actually had jobs two or three weeks before they graduated from there— had a very high earning wage, so I’m extremely proud of that.”
Hartley said that the most critical work the district has ever undertaken is happening now.
“We’ll see it in years to come as we really started working extremely hard at improving student academic achievement,” he said. “The theme for this year’s school year was breaking barriers. Since the beginning of school grades, our district has never been higher than a C. We are on a mission to break that barrier, and we’re currently in the process of transforming our instruction with the design to ensure that all of our students are presenting grade-level content at the rigor they will see on the state test. And if that grade doesn’t change this year, it’s going to happen soon, and I know we’re going to accomplish that goal.”
