Through skits and short introductions, teachers with the Vicksburg Warren School District learned by video exactly what services are available to them from the central office.

Superintendent Chad Shealy said teachers had traditionally come together for convocation at the beginning of the year, but due to suggestions from principals, the format was changed this year.

“I talked to my principals about the information they wanted on convocation and I kind of got a different answer than what I was expecting,” he said. “I was expecting them to tell me ‘I want you to talk about A, B, C and D,’ but what they told me is that they want to have their teachers in their buildings.”

Shealy said the new system would save teachers the time they would have been in transit.

“We streamlined our focus to a virtual video,” he said. “I told them we could do it this way as long as they could assure me that all teachers will see this.”

The video identifies departments and issues a service-based message, Shealy said.

“It’s to let them know that central office’s mission is to serve the children of this district by being a support for the buildings,” he said. “It has the mission and vision of each of the departments that is communicated to the buildings and the teachers, so they know the resources they have and the appropriate person to go to if they have a problem in a certain area.”

Shealy said a few training responsibilities were shifted to principals to order to make the video convocation work.

“It’s about a 15- to 25-minute commercial of the services provided by central office,” he said. “That’s what we’re presenting as a convocation this year, and we did it out of the context that I’m trying to be of service for those who are doing the work, the boots on the ground.”

Dana Road Elementary School Principal Sherrie Williams said she liked the new video format.

“The faculty absolutely loved it,” she said. “They all voted that they preferred it so much over the old format.”

Williams said at the end the teachers were asked if they got the theme of the video, to which they unanimously responded with “support.”

“It was really obvious throughout the video that it was themed to show there is support for the schools from central office and all the different departments,” she said. “I think it was really useful and successful.”

The time saving aspect of the new format was especially loved by the faculty, Williams said.

“It literally took us half an hour as opposed to half a day,” she said. “It was wonderful.”

The video is available for the teachers to access throughout the year on the school district’s YouTube channel, making the tool even more of an asset, Williams said.

The Vicksburg Warren School District’s YouTube channel can be accessed at youtube.com/user/vwsdtv16.