Nod to Chad Shealy and Vicksburg Warren School District was well deserved

Published 8:39 pm Friday, January 20, 2017

In Tuesday night’s State of the State address, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant singled out the Vicksburg Warren School District and its superintendent, Chad Shealy.

Bryant praised the district’s Academy of Innovation, which works to hone the knowledge of Vicksburg and Warren County seventh and eighth graders who are interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Further, those students are taught and challenged through project-based learning.

The Academy of Innovation is worthy of praise, as is Shealy.

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Sometimes, results on a standardized test don’t paint an accurate picture of the knowledge of ability of a child, nor a school district.

Shealy took the reins of the Vicksburg Warren School District in 2013. By all accounts, he faced a big, tough job when he started.

It is obvious to those who have observed that Shealy and the district have made much progress and are on the road to making certain every child not only graduates, but is prepared for college, career and life. In fact, that’s the new motto: Vicksburg Warren graduates will be college, career and life prepared.

And Shealy and his staff are obsessed with making that happen.

Effecting change within a school district isn’t something that happens overnight. It’s more like turning a barge in the middle of the Mississippi. It takes fighting a mighty current. But it happens, slowly but surely.

Our barge is turning, and it’s headed in the right direction, thanks to Shealy and partnerships he’s formed with the business community here, as well as those with key employees within the school district.

At a recent meeting of community members, it was pointed out that it’s been 21 years since a superintendent of the Vicksburg Warren School District had children who are students in the district. Shealy does.

Shealy is personally invested in our community and school district. Our school board made a very wise decision when they tapped him for the superintendent’s position in 2013.

Good things are ahead for our community because of what’s happening right now in the Vicksburg Warren School District.