On this special day, I not only crossed the Gulf of Mexico from Southwest Florida to Monroe County to visit Key West but so much more happened on this beautiful day.
It was the opening day of the school year for Monroe County and for the I got an opportunity to get the sense and feel of how a school district feels on opening day. If you think that the parents, students, teachers, principals, school staffs, and community supporters feel on the first day of school, you should be at the school district during the first day back.
This was truly a first for me because in the past 16 years I have either been experiencing the highs of greeting students for the first time or in the last couple of years watching from afar and seeing those bright faces scroll off to school after a long summer break. It was fitting that this day would be filled with seeing the pressures of a very caring school district hoping and praying that everything would go just right. The department staff out in the field (hopefully not in the way of the teachers) wanting to see if their plans from the summer are starting to unfold. Those left behind manning the building which are few are busy walking the halls and gathering the reports of how things are going. Even the SRO are roaming the island making sure she is available for any incident that needs her attention.
Superintendent Porter a leader that I will return to see. He attempted to be at every school this morning and returned to get a full report from all his departments and seeing them all running to make sure every detail was reported was truly amazing.
I will return to this school district not just for the superintendent but to marvel in the history of those early schools and unlock the keys to how this school district has maintained an A+ Rating since 2006 as well as met the AYP for the students.
The great things about doing my miles around Key West is that once you leave the school district you are in the heart of Key West and everywhere you ride it is always something new. As much as I loved the people and the lovely scenes and exploring the history of Key West as well as visiting the military areas, loved the interviews that I had with the students.
I got the views of ones who graduated from the high schools and never left the island to the high school students who are enjoying the island because this is where they lived all their lives and now preparing for that day that they are going to leave. It was great for me getting this feel because I have been to Key West a couple of times before but never even entered my mind to get the feel of the Key West from the view point of the children born here and doing the normal things that all children all over the world do all the time.
Key West is much more than just a place for tourism it is really home for the people of the island and this time I got to see that life on the island from different lens this time. I also got to an opportunity to see so much more because I was cycling and covered so much more area of the island and met so many more people and just like all the other counties everyone has a story to tell.
I was delighted and thrilled to learn that even on Key West people cared and wanted to learn more about the Constitution. I cannot wait until those Constitution booklets are shared across the island.
I now must be off to my next county because on Labor Day my journey across Florida will have been completed. The ship ride was nice, talking with the people was exciting, but I must say sharing the feel of the school district with first day back and hearing the views of the local school students were very special because these are things that one can only experience when you leave the mainland of Florida and visit these islands in the Keys.
Please do enjoy some of the scenes from my trip to Monroe County by way of Key West. If you think that the pictures tell a story just wait until my report of the journey to Monroe County.
What a great way to start the school year!
Joseph
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