On Thursday, August 25, the Verona Area School District’s full staff convocation was held, with more than 900 teachers, administrators, coaches, counselors and custodians gathered in the new high school auditorium.

Everyone in the district is an educator, regardless of role, superintendent Dr. Tremayne Clardy said during the event, which was also attended by members of the Verona Regional Education Association, the Verona Association of Educational Support Professionals and the VASD Board of Education. .

“Everyone is an educator. It doesn’t matter what your title is. We all serve students and teach in our own way,” he said.

Two students, Faith Rush and EJ Van De Grift, addressed the audience.

Rush said she was “very grateful and grateful” to all the teachers she had. I talked about a teacher who created a comfortable space in the classroom. She said her 8th grade science teacher made her realize the wonders of science.

Rush notes that it can be difficult to build trust with adults, and that young people can feel disabled or afraid to speak up, but trust with VASD teachers can be difficult. I feel that I am building

Van de Grifft shared how being dubbed ‘De Money’ by his teachers allowed him to see educators as other human beings, not just robots working in his school

“It may not seem like much, but it’s the personal connections you make that drive us students to wake up and learn every day. It’s the relationships that stick with us.” “I firmly believe that to call this a community, it has to be more than students, teachers and advisors. More importantly, we are people.” .”

In Dr. Clardy’s speech, he emphasized the importance of “academic literacy” for developing students’ ability to write, listen and speak as they read and study content in a variety of disciplines and content areas. Discipline literacy can be defined as content knowledge, experience, and skills combined with the ability to read, write, listen, speak, and think critically.

All educators teach some kind of literacy, Krady says, including band teachers with music notes, football coaches with x and o in their playbooks, and calculus teachers with numbers. He said that literacy is not limited to letters, reading and writing.

He said educators have a “moral duty” to ensure that all students leave VASD with the ability to not only survive but thrive in an increasingly diverse global community. .

Seven staff members who have been with the district for 25 years were honored.

There were student performances by the Black Star drum line, Verona Area High School Dance Team, and Latino Nation dancers.

Kurt Russell, 2022 National Teacher of the Year, was one of the guest speakers. Russell teaches classes on African-American history and race, gender, and oppression at Oberlin High School in Oberlin, Ohio.

He was introduced by VAHS English teacher Kabby Hong. Kabby Hong was one of her five statewide teachers named Wisconsin’s teacher of the year.

“I hope that if I ask my students who their teacher will be this year, they will say one of you,” Russell said. Not only because they are our future, but also because they deserve it.