Troy Academy

Troy Academy Day at Troy City Schools

It's 7:45 in the morning. The parking lot is filling up at Charles Henderson High School. Administrators, teachers, and others are getting out of the cars and are heading to the cafeteria. As you walk inside, you are greeted with a warm smile from some of the Central Office staff, as they asked you politely to sign in before you take your seat. Is this the beginning of school all over again? No, it was Troy Academy Day!

Troy Academy Day, was designed for all of the educators of Troy City Schools. The day started off with a keynote of gratitude. Dr. Lee Hicks, Superintendent of Troy City School, delivered a great keynote, where he was thankful for all of the staff members and their hard work at Troy City. "Now, for us to get you all together like this again, that all we have to do is feed you, we will make certain that we bring out the entire pig, so we can have all of the sausage, bacon, and ham for you guys. But, seriously, thank you". The teachers definitely felt appreciated as the lines for breakfast grew. More than anything, it was a time to just chat and relax.

Then the excitement began! Teachers were sent over to Charles Henderson Middle School to begin the teacher-led sessions. What was great about Troy Academy, was the fact teachers from all three schools were able to interact and collaborate with each other on topics that interested them. Blogging, Skype, Flipgrid, Chrome Apps, gifted, and Reality Pedagogy, were some of the topics that teachers discussed at Troy Academy. When I had time to walk through the classrooms, I could see the excitement on teachers faces as they listen to topics, lead discussions, and ask questions.



"If you are uncomfortable with their culture, they are uncomfortable with yours too". This was a powerful statement that one of the teachers made during a session. Casey Moore, teacher at Charles Henderson High School, said this during her "Hip Hop" session, as she explained to teachers the benefits of using the Reality Pedagogy model. She referenced her work to Dr. Chris Emdin, Associate Professor in Mathematics, Science and Technology, at Columbia University, who is also the author of For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood.

Overall, with all of the sessions and collaboration, I feel that Troy Academy was a success. We even had teachers who never used social media before, create accounts, and even use our hashtag #TroyAcademy. Hopefully we can continue to grow this community of Professional Learning at Troy City Schools.

#TroyAcademy