Roanoke schoolteachers return to work with rally 

The message to Roanoke educators was simple, but powerful: “You make a difference.”

Roanoke City Public Schools held its annual convocation Monday officially calling an end to summer for the staff and ushering in another school year. Hundreds of teachers, who reported back to work Monday, filled the Roanoke Civic Center for a pep rally-like launch to the year.

“Whether you realize it or not, every one of you changes lives every day,” Preston Park Elementary School Principal Eric Fisher told the crowd.

Fisher was one of a handful of principals who shared stories about how educators at their schools have been there for students and worked tirelessly to help them succeed, even when the challenges were great.

He recalled seeing teachers organize a snack program to feed students after seeing them so hungry they searched their pockets for crumbs. Other teachers, he said, washed dirty clothes for their students and school nurses made sure students got medical care.

Toni Belton, Roanoke Academy for Math and Science principal, also shared powerful tales from her school, which she said has countless stories of educators doing whatever they can to help students.

She remembered a young girl at her school who acted out after being asked to take off the hood of a sweatshirt she was wearing.

The child, Belton said, had younger siblings and a mother with terminal cancer. She didn’t want to take off the hood because she neglected her own hygiene while taking care of her siblings. But school staff took her aside, combed and braided her hair.

“You have to reach a child before you teach a child,” she said.

School board Chairman Todd Putney said there are challenges, but the passion of Roanoke educators sets them apart.

For Putney it was his first time addressing educators at the convocation. He recently took over as school board chairman after longtime leader David Carson stepped down to become a judge.

Putney explained what led him to his spot on the board and where his story with Roanoke city schools started. He said there was a moment in 1998 when he first moved to the area that he couldn’t forget when colleagues said he couldn’t live in the city.

“They said the schools are awful,” Putney recalled. “What I learned later is they were wrong. The perception is wrong.”

Putney said his children attended city schools and he got involved. He said today much has changed and the school system has made progress. He rattled off a list of achievements, but was interrupted by applause when he noted the rise in the city’s graduation rate.

In the past four years, Roanoke has moved its on-time graduation rate from 59.1 percent to 76.6 percent.

Superintendent Rita Bishop closed the gathering of almost 2,000 teachers by saying each student is a chance to make a difference and leave behind a legacy.

“No one lives forever,” she said. “And it’s really about what we leave behind.”

She added she plans to share the school system’s good news “as far as the shouts can be heard.”

“Because I know each day you make a difference,” she said.

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