Though the 2008-09 academic year officially began on Aug. 13, the celebration within the Bartlesville Public School District got started a day earlier.
The 2008-09 Back To School Rally unfolded Aug. 12 with plenty of pomp and circumstance in the Fine Arts Center auditorium on the Bartlesville High School campus. The event featured performances by the Bruin Brigade marching band as well as the Bruin cheerleaders, pom squad and color guard. Among those who took the podium to speak were BPSD superintendent Dr. Gary W. Quinn and Bartlesville Board of Education president Marta Manning.
LaDonna Gatlin, a singer and motivational speaker who is the sister of the performers who comprise the famed Gatlin Brothers band, entertained the bustling crowd for more than an hour.
“The speaker was wonderful,” said Linda Paxson, a financial secretary at Hoover Elementary School. “She really gave you a lift.”
The focus of the rally – now fully entrenched as a BPSD tradition – is to lift the spirits of teachers, administrators and other district employees heading into a given academic year. A fundraising event – donations from 15 area businesses made this year's event possible – generates all of the money needed to hold the rally. At the end of this year's rally – as was the case the previous year – free T-shirts were distributed to all district employees. The T-shirts – as well as a giant banner which was lowered onto the stage midway through the event – bear the district's theme for the new academic year: “A Great School District.”
“It was like a pep rally for adults,” said Bridgette Smith, who is in her first year as an English teacher at the Bartlesville Mid-High School. “It was great.
“It got me ready to come back to school.”
Gatlin focused her speech on doing the right thing and mixed plenty of humor and music into it. Toward the end of her energetic performance – which included well-received stories about her family – she sat down at the piano which had been positioned for her on stage and played some music which was popular around the time she graduated high school in the early 1970s. Among the selections was Three Dog Night's “Joy To the World.”
“It's always good to start off the school year on a positive note,” said Ranch Heights Elementary School principal Dave Mueller, “and we certainly did that.”
The rally began with the Boy Scouts of America Troop 3 presenting the colors before leading everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance followed by the National Anthem. Senior Alex Rivera performed a moving rendition of “God Bless America.” The Bruin Brigade moved energetically through “ Oklahoma” and then “The Bruin Fight Song.”
Rally history was made on Tuesday as for the first time, all of the district's retired educators who wanted to be recognized were welcomed to the stage. The educators had been invited to be part of the ceremony weeks in advance, and approximately 30 of them made their way across the stage during Tuesday's event, each to a loud ovation.
While the district saluted its stellar past during the rally, it celebrated its bright future as well. Youngsters from the Will Rogers Early Childhood Center – which features pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students – sang three songs under the direction of their music teacher, Ayngel Elmore. Elmore's husband, Jarrod, accompanied the group on piano.
Having graduated in May, Bartlesville High School 's Class of 2008 even made its presence known during the rally thanks to a “reflections” video which was edited by ConocoPhillips' Paul Macfarlane. In the video, which was shot in May shortly before BHS graduation ceremonies, the then-seniors looked back at their time in the district and the way in which those years had shaped them.
In addition to Manning and Quinn, Bartlesville Education Association president Sheila Stephenson and Bartlesville Education Classified Personnel Organization president Robert Snellgrove made their way to the podium to address the audience.
All 12 schools within the district, as well as other groups such as transportation and maintenance, were recognized for their accomplishments by the rally announcers, giving them a chance to stand up in the audience and be recognized by their peers.
“I liked the way everyone was recognized in some form,” said Smith. “I thought that was a nice touch.”
Gatlin spoke of everything from growing up in a family full of entertainers to finding out her teenage daughter was pregnant to dealing with the rambunctious grandson who followed. But she never strayed from her message of doing the right thing.
“LaDonna delivered good messages which you could really take to heart,” said Paxson. “She was straight forward, but she was funny too.”
LaDonna Gatlin entertains the crowd during the Bartlesville Public School District's 2008-09 Back To School Rally, which was held Aug. 12 in the Fine Arts Center auditorium on the Bartlesville High School campus. Below, members of the Bruin Color Guard generate some school spirit during the event.
