MACON, Ga. — Bibb County Schools Superintendent Dan Sims delivered his State of the District address on Thursday at Wesleyan College’s Oval Hall.
Before Sims took the microphone, Meaghan Blight, President of Wesleyan College, announced a partnership with Bibb County Schools, allowing any staff member in the district to receive a $5,000 scholarship to pursue a master’s degree at Wesleyan College.
Blight said both men and women are eligible for the master’s programs at Wesleyan.
“That will take a significant amount off the education,” she said.
Sims focused his address on the district and plans for improvement. This year’s theme is: “Together 4 Action: Because they deserve the best.”
“It should warm your heart every time you get around students and have the grand experience of seeing them exude who they are.” Sims said. “What we are trying to do as a school district, as is the case all over the world, is we are trying to bring out the hopes and dreams and all of the power and potential in every single student.”
He celebrated several wins this year, including an 87.7% graduation rate for 2023. He focused on building a sense of community.
Sims asked for the community as a whole to support the district, the students and the families in Bibb County.
“I believe strongly in the power of a city that I feel is large enough to have resources, large enough to be resourceful but small enough to be responsive and have some real impact,” he said. “This is a major part of my vision.”
In addition, Sims also teased a future announcement about a partnership with Mayor Lester Miller that he referred to as being “huge” but did not elaborate on what that might entail.
One emotional moment in the address came when Sims talked about the five major things he plans to tackle, including mental health. He shared the story of a student who told him that they did not feel safe in schools because ‘I am not confident that if I hide behind the desk that if someone comes in the school to shoot if this desk will protect me.’
The other four points included a focus on literacy, student engagement, recruitment and parental involvement.
Sims had each member of the crowd open up their bag underneath their chairs that contained a letter from a student and read it to themselves. Then he closed his address with tears in his eyes.
“I cannot ever express to you how badly I want every student in our city to have their dreams come true,” he said. “I want you to find somewhere to put that letter to just remind you of our student’s dreams. They are counting on me, they are counting on all my staff members, and like a child uses his fingers, they are counting on you.”