Happy New Year! My wish is that 2006 will be the best year ever for you. The Christmas season is one of my favorite times of the year and I hope the holidays were enjoyable for you and your families. One of the reasons I enjoy these holidays is because of all of the college bowl games. I hope your teams were successful.  We want to congratulate Mrs. Gisele Proby-Bryant, principal at Rusheon Middle School, who was a regional winner in the principal of the year competition. She will be competing for state principal of the year later this month.

Congratulations are also in order for Coach Mitch Downey, head coach at Benton High School, who was selected 3-AAA State Coach of the Year.

Our employees began the new year with staff development activities January 2, 2006, and I was most impressed with their enthusiasm and willingness to learn new teaching strategies and techniques. We are blessed to have so many dedicated professionals working in our school system.

Our building program continues to progress and hopefully we will be successful in acquiring sites for our new schools in the near future. Our staff understands the awesome responsibility we have to use your hard earned tax dollars as efficiently as possible.

Thank you again for the opportunity to serve you and your students.