GAEL UnscriptED
GAEL UnscriptED, the podcast that goes beyond the headlines and handbooks to bring you unfiltered insights from Georgia’s top educational leaders, innovators, and changemakers. Hosted by Ben Wiggins, Executive Director of GAEL, this show dives deep into the challenges, opportunities, and unexpected twists that shape education today.
From leadership strategies to policy discussions—and everything in between—GAEL UnscriptED is your go-to source for candid conversations that make an impact. No scripts. No fluff. Just real talk from those leading the way in Georgia’s schools.
GAEL UnscriptED
Cats Out of the Bag: Valdosta's Viral Social Media Strategy
The social media revolution happening at Valdosta City Schools has everyone talking—even education leaders 200 miles away. What started as a creative approach to combat the "summer slide" has transformed into a community movement that's doubled their social media following and changed public perception of the district.
Communications Director Jennifer Steedley and specialist Candacey Griffin have pioneered a fresh approach to school communications that goes far beyond standard announcements. Their videos—featuring administrators sprinting across campuses in full suits, flying planes, and even rapping about reading—blend entertainment with purposeful educational messaging that resonates across generations.
"Every single video has a message," explains Steedley. "It's not just fun shooting videos to get your attention. While we have you, let us tell you a quick message about how important education is." This strategy reflects Superintendent Dr. Craig Lockhart's leadership philosophy: identify people's talents and empower them to shine.
The results speak volumes. Their Facebook following has nearly doubled to almost 30,000 in just one year. Local businesses eagerly collaborate on content, staff members line up to participate in videos, and community members recognize district leaders from their digital presence. Most importantly, these efforts support core district priorities like literacy improvement and attendance, while celebrating their partnerships with community organizations like Moody Air Force Base.
Behind each seemingly simple video lies hours—sometimes days—of planning, filming, and editing. The team considers different platforms and audiences, crafting content that resonates with students on Instagram while engaging parents and community members on Facebook. Their approach demonstrates how authentic storytelling can transform educational communication.
Want to see how creative communications can energize your school community? Follow Valdosta City Schools on social media and witness firsthand how digital storytelling is building pride, engagement, and educational success in South Georgia.
Welcome to Gale Unscripted, where leadership meets learning and real conversations drive real impact. I'm Ben Wiggins, executive Director of Gale. Join us as we go beyond the headlines with Georgia's top education leaders. Let's elevate the conversation. Welcome back Gale family, to another exciting podcast of Gale Unscripted. Today we have some fabulous guests from the Valdosta City School District, so I'm going to take a give them a couple of moments to introduce themselves. Let's start with you, jennifer.
Speaker 2:I'm Jennifer Steedley. I'm the Director of Public Relations with Valdosta City Schools.
Speaker 3:I'm Candace Griffin, Communications Specialist for Valdosta City Schools.
Speaker 4:I'm Craig Lockhart, Proud Superintendent of Valdosta City Schools.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, and one of the main reasons we're here is to talk about social media. Jennifer, I know you've been in the district for a while in your role, so tell us how long you've been working there at Valdosta City Schools.
Speaker 2:So 18 years, but this is the start of my 19th school year, if that makes sense. When I began at Valdosta City Schools, my youngest child was six months old, and we take him to college on Sunday, so I've been here for a minute.
Speaker 1:Ken Dacey, how long have you been at Valdosta?
Speaker 3:For almost two years now.
Speaker 4:Congratulations, Craig. Is this your third year? Yes, this is my third year here in Valdosta City Schools. It's been a great journey thus far and we look forward to many more years to come.
Speaker 1:Awesome, awesome. Well, we invited you to be on as our guest today because we've been watching you all summer At the Gale office. We follow a lot of school districts, social media, but as the summer rolled on, on more than one occasion Gale staff would come into my office and say have you seen the latest video that Valdosta City Schools has dropped? So we've watched you all summer and we thought you know what a great opportunity it would be for us to invite you on the podcast. This is our first virtual podcast as well. We've recorded about 25 traditional face-to-face, but we've never done a virtual, and you all agreed to be our guinea pig and do one virtually. So we're so excited to have you today. But one of the things I think I want you to start off talking about maybe is in the beginning of the summer I saw a reading campaign, so talk a little bit about that.
Speaker 4:So one of our organizational priorities in Valdosta City Schools is literacy. As a matter of fact, when I was hired for this job, that was something that the school board really wanted us to focus on is improving students' Lexile scores and their reading abilities. So this particular summer we decided to look at the summer slide, and Candacy will give you a little bit of inspiration behind her thoughts where that came from. But with the summer slide, our educators know this to be a period of time where students tend to go backwards academically. We say reading, but also in mathematics, and so what we want to make sure of is that our students stay engaged with reading throughout the summer. So that was the catalyst that created this Summer Slide series, but I'll turn it over to Ken Basie to actually what happened that led to her thinking a little bit more about this.
Speaker 1:Awesome. You had some wonderful ideas. I mean one that I remember off the top of my head. I think I remember the Mission Impossible theme. I think I remember seeing administrators in full sprint mode. I was impressed by that that they could still sprint. But talk to us about how you came up with the ideas of what you did on that reading campaign.
Speaker 3:So it started when we had a literacy event. It was a partnership with our local library and there was also other organizations such as our food bank that participated in that. There were so many kids who came out for that event and I kept hearing the term summer slide, and I do not have a background in education so I had never heard of that term before, term before, and I didn't give it a second thought until the next day. Whenever we uploaded those photos, there was one of our fans who commented beat the summer slot. And then I googled it and found that those kids, especially in elementary, can lose up to 20 percent of their literacy gains over the summer break. And I really just looked at our public relations strategy and how can we assist our district in reaching those goals and reaching these students over the summer. So we started with Coach Hunter. He was more than willing to sprint, for it was I think it was four hours. We went to every school in the district and everywhere that we saw.
Speaker 1:In a full suit, I might add, and everywhere that we saw In a full suit, I might add yeah, full suit.
Speaker 5:And people would ask what are y'all filming for.
Speaker 3:And he would say read a book. Watch the video that comes out on this day and share it and, like it, Share it with your family and friends.
Speaker 1:Well, jennifer, why don't you just expand a little bit? You know, valdosta City Schools, like all school districts, probably started sharing on social media a number of years ago. It wasn't that long ago that no schools were sharing anything on social media. So talk to us a little bit about that journey at the Valdosta City School District, from maybe when you first started to where you were maybe five, ten years ago, and then bringing on Ken Dacey a couple of years ago, and then bring in on Ken Dacey a couple of years ago.
Speaker 2:It's very, very interesting that, like you said, when I first got here social media, to get a Facebook page you had to be a student in a university with a university email address to be able to have one. Well, as that began to open up, I was like, ok, maybe this is a train we need to hop on. And our then superintendent, dr Bill Cason, he was very hesitant. Dr Cason, when he was here, I think one of the first stories we ever posted is he was recognized and we still kind of giggle about it as the oldest worker in the state. I think something like there was some kind of silly little award, but that was one of the first things that we posted. But that just also kind of explains why he was a little hesitant to jump on that social media train. And so you know, from time to time you have to admit that maybe you're getting a little older yourself, and so that's where I really appreciate Candace's young, vibrant mind that comes in and she'll say, oh my gosh, I saw this reel on Instagram. I think we can do it, what do you think? And I'm like go for it. But she just has the ability to take something and make it come to life, to take something and make it come to life, and I think what that has done for us is number one is reengaged our fans, our families and people, really, that don't even have any association with Valdosta City Schools. We have seen a growth in the number of followers on our accounts by thousands. To be honest, I think when Candacy started with Facebook, on our accounts by thousands, to be honest, I think when Candacy started with Facebook, we may have had about 15,000 followers and at last count we were getting close to 30,000. And that's in a year.
Speaker 2:But it's just amazing too, the shift in public perception and what people say about you, just based off of fun, and really that's what it is. But what is more important is, at the end of the day, while those videos are fun, every single one of them has a message. It may be, yes, mr Hunter is running around campuses and yes, dr Lockhart was in a plane, but at the end of every single video there was a message of read a book. Or hey, have you seen our new administrators? Or hey, have you bought your season tickets to the football game? It's not just fun shooting videos to get your attention. We want your attention. But while we're here, while we have you, let us tell you a quick message about how important education is. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I think y'all have done an incredible job of using social media to tell your story in a new, fresh way, and you are. You're reaching people not just connected to Valdosta City Schools. You're reaching the Gale staff up in Athens, Georgia, on the University of Georgia campus. We're showing our UGA colleagues that are next door to us hey, come over here and look at this video. So I think that's very, very smart and wise. I know that not only did Ken Dacey have to convince you, Jennifer, but then you had to go to Crow and say, all right, Dr Lockhart, hey, we've got this idea, so talk us through that a little bit, dr Lockhart.
Speaker 4:Well, I really believe that one of the tenets to good leadership is you identify the talents that people have and you allow them to be themselves. You empower them to do what they can do, and so I've just been incredibly fortunate. Jennifer and I have a great working relationship, and what we realized with communication is ever evolving. So Jennifer and I, we were here. Jennifer, she was really tackling a lot of really really big items here for our school system, but we just said, look, in order to really engage the entire community, we need to try to expand the PR department. So we worked together.
Speaker 4:My job was to just say Jennifer, you can hire someone. What Jennifer did was hire the right person, hire someone. What Jennifer did was hire the right person and, as we hear, it's all about getting the right people in the right seat on the bus. And so she was able to bring in Candacy, who had this skill set that was really untapped, and so when we were able to allow for Candacy just to go and show us what she's been doing, it's been electric and I'm just along for the ride and I just I'm a fan. I'm a fan like everybody else. I just love to see what she comes up with.
Speaker 4:I'll also say success breeds success, and so when we the first major video, of course, was with Coach Hunter and he was running through promoting literacy and that was just the fire. Everywhere I go now I have so many staff who are like when will I be able to be in the next video I go to? I go to we have wild here and I went out to Wild Adventures. Some of the workers there they were trying to see when the next video was dropping. I was at lunch yesterday and one of the waitresses said I know you, you're from the videos. So it's really a community, a point of pride for our entire community. So we're really excited. But back to the question. It's about hiring the right people and allowing them to do their job and you'll be amazed at what they can produce.
Speaker 1:Great lesson, Great leadership point there. We noticed that you had a lot of. You had some local businesses involved in some of these videos and campaigns. I remember a restaurant, for example. Talk about why it's important to involve your local businesses when you're talking about some of the things with your school district and that you're trying to do.
Speaker 2:So I'll kind of we can piggyback this one a little bit. We do have a very successful community partners and education program. This year we're actually celebrating a big anniversary 35 years with community partners and education program. This year we're actually celebrating a big anniversary 35 years with community partners and education and so one of the things that we also thought about were other people that have successful presence on social media, and so that's where Candace and I were talking, because Rico's Tacos they're just really funny, to be honest. They have a really fun presence on social media and they have a lot of followers.
Speaker 6:And good food. I've eaten down there a couple times. They've got good food too.
Speaker 1:I'm a South Georgia person. Tell them where you're from. I'm from blackshear say waycross, but usually she'll say usually pierce county pierce county.
Speaker 6:So it's been really fun and kind of like a little taste of home in a way to see everything you are doing down there.
Speaker 2:So we can't forget that yes well, so can they see, she kind of took that bull by the horns and started reaching out to people. So I'll let you kind of elaborate a little bit on on how you we didn't want to say picked, because it is crazy. We have people that reach out honestly daily or like, hey, we want to do a collaboration, we begin. So I'll kind of let you talk a little bit about that piece.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so Rico's Tacos didn't reach out and request to be in a video, but they did share I think it was the video of Coach Hunter and said if you aren't running like this after our taco trucks, we don't want it. And we thought it was hilarious and counted it as an honor that they thought that our content was worthy to be shared. So we reached out to them because we do have a community, especially at JLOMAX, that can identify with them through the ESOL program. So we want people to identify with our content. Like she said, it's not just for clicks, for reach. We want everyone to be seen and heard through our videos.
Speaker 1:Perfect, great points. I remember seeing well talk to us about the airplane. We saw Dr Lockhart in the airplane and the back-to-school videos. They were phenomenal the students coming in the first days of school, the bus drivers Talk about those ideas. How you came up with those?
Speaker 3:so, mr Fandel, he is our HR director um, he came up to me one day and was like hey, I just want to let you know we have a plane at our disposal. And I'm like, hold up, what are you talking about? And we didn't even know that he had a pilot's license, and so he arranged that completely with the airport and the use of the plane. Um, and he humbly, uh, did not want to be in the video at first. He wanted Coach Hunter to sit in the pilot seat with Dr Lockhart, since he was the one who kickstarted the campaign. So it was a full circle moment and we finally were able to have him in the back seat. You can barely see the top of his head, but he was in the video. So, like she said, there's just so many people who have offered to um collaborate and bring the vision that has already been set perfect and I think we've got it to.
Speaker 1:Maybe you're gonna share a couple of videos with us, so why don't you just pick one and let's watch it and, just after we watch it, maybe talk us through it?
Speaker 2:yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah, beat the summer slide with Valdosta City Schools. Read a book.
Speaker 1:Please tell me, coach Hunter is like 24 years old or something.
Speaker 4:Don't tell me he's mature like some of us and able to do that. Oh, let me just say this before they describe the video and the thought process behind it I had a lot of people think that was me and I proudly said, yes, it was me, and so anyway. But then I just started telling people that's my stunt double. So again, we had a good time with that one, Bob. Turn it over, that's great.
Speaker 3:So he actually was promoted to assistant athletics director over the summer. He started that position, I think July 1st, so that was also a good way to tie in part of his identity and his role in the school system. I don't know how old he is.
Speaker 2:He's been a teacher of the year in the district before he was a teacher of the year, I believe, at Valdosta middle school, and that's been several years ago. But he is very athletic. Y'all know the summer heat too and the humidity. He doesn't even look like he's sweating. When she showed me the final product I was like how is he not sweating? I don't understand. But it really was amazing. And then some of the others too, like there's one that's a rap video. Can we show just a snippet of that one really For students? That when, while she's pulling it up, I mean she also had to write the rap. So it's not. And I think you had help with an assistant super almost helped come up with the lyrics, but it it's just amazing that I just would like to hop in her brain for a minute.
Speaker 5:You really bout to do it.
Speaker 7:That's, I'm a sly calling names, but I just can't excuse it.
Speaker 5:Then get on it like that. Hey, I'm running, I'm flying, I'm flipping through them, pages like Ayy, cuz it's time to read, bro, no cap time to grab a book. Let's leave y'all hands down Callin' all my friends, there's no tease. Check the books, comment books, read what?
Speaker 7:you please. I walked through the summertime with a stack, had to pay nothing, consistently kept flipping till it turned into something.
Speaker 8:How many books you really read. So many options I recommend to somebody. I'm not stopping.
Speaker 5:Ayy, take a break, bounce back. Yeah, you know where you're locked in. Sometimes you gotta chill, read and grow. Focus is signature. I'm the one that set the goal.
Speaker 7:Walk it out, hold up this plot. I need some more. Gotta turn the page. Let's see what they got in store.
Speaker 8:Before you fill up your mind, you better know it's imagination time. One page start flipping you in love. Just know, a wildcat reader I've become.
Speaker 7:Read, read read, read, read. Gotta tear it up. Read, read, read, read, read. That's some good stuff. There's no place that can do it better. Black and gold never fall. I'm a reader.
Speaker 2:Stack them books up. Obviously, you know you have different audiences on different platforms. So of course our parents, grandparents, that type of thing are mainly on our Facebook page, but our kids are over on Instagram. So it's really different to kind of see the reaction and the commenting based on which platform it's on.
Speaker 2:And of course you're going to have a little snarky you know, whatever, especially when the kids are like I'm not reading a book, it's summer, let me have my summer. But then when you let them just talk, just don't even respond to them, and then you drop this and it's their peers, it's kind of different. It was amazing to see how that one kind of took off and was shared amongst the students. So it's just kind of fun how she really kind of incorporated so many different people. But again, I mean, if you take a minute and listen to that one from start to finish, all those lyrics, those came to her too. It's not just the video, it's all the things, it's just awesome.
Speaker 1:Incredible. Can they see? To just tell the audience how and I know every video is different and all the but approximately how much time do you spend or does it take to do all of that for one video? People see that and they go oh, it's a 15 second clip. Probably they have no understanding of how many hours that took you.
Speaker 3:So tell us a little bit about that it really just depends on what it is that we're shooting and how much time it takes to edit. Um, the chair video that you mentioned, um introduced our admin. Oh my goodness, that took forever to edit, but it didn't take hardly any time to film, whereas the rap video that was the cover of Kendrick Lamar, but we rewrote the lyrics. Obviously that took a lot more work behind the scenes and the execution of it like filming it in the library at VHS took a long time, but editing wise it didn't. So I think the shortest one that to edit was probably 15 minutes, and then the longest one took days.
Speaker 1:And people they don't know, they don't, they don't appreciate that and understand that and I know that Greg and Jennifer know the amount of time that you're putting in. I think it's just so smart to use your alumni, the young alumni, to come in and be a part of that so those students, whether they're from high school all the way down to elementary school, they can identify, they know them. I just think that's so smart and so much more successful of a campaign, rather than just putting a graphic up on your Facebook page saying read. This summer, parents encourage your kids to read. So kudos to you.
Speaker 2:Fantastic job on that she makes it look so easy and it's really, it's amazing. You can tell when she's in a zone because you walk by and she's got her headphones on, like you guys have on. She's in a zone because you walk by and she's got her headphones on, like you guys have on, and. But my favorite part about her doing this is when I walk by and all I see are her teeth. I know that something's about to be really good. But the joy that you can tell that it brings her, it just warms my heart. But I'm telling you I feel like it has made a shift. But I'm telling you I feel like it has made a shift and I hope Dr Lockhart agrees not just in here at our office, but across the district. It's like people are so proud. They're like, yeah, did you see our leaders sharing the videos and talking about the power that we have made and given by creating these campaigns that are not just fun and fluffy but they really, truly have a message.
Speaker 1:Yeah, perfect. Before we get on to the next video Abby's going to share with us, we always take a break during our podcast and kind of highlight one of our partners, and today we're going to highlight Franklin Covey.
Speaker 6:Yes, we noticed in your video you had some Leader in Me books. So, if you guys want to, you know Franklin Covey is an annual partner of Gale. We have a great partnership with them and have for the past couple of years is an annual partner of Gale. We have a great partnership with them and have for the past couple of years. But this is an awesome opportunity for you guys to talk a little bit about your partnership as a Leader in Me district.
Speaker 1:Yeah, is there anything you want to elaborate on that? We just happened to notice that, and Franklin Covey has been a great partner with Gale for years.
Speaker 4:So thank you for bringing that up. Yes, we are working with the Franklin Covey organization, with Leader in Me, and so what you'll see in the videos nowadays they have what we call Easter eggs in movies and so so that's definitely an Easter egg for us in which we try to highlight that Leader in Me book. Try to highlight that Leader in Me book. The Leader in Me program is a school improvement model and we use that in order to try to enhance our character development, character education programs. Every person in a school is a leader, and so we're using this program in order to try to bring out the best leadership traits in our students, as well as our other educators, our teachers, trying to make sure that everyone steps up and is as responsible and accountable as possible.
Speaker 4:So this is our second year with Leader in Me. It has been an absolute joy to see our schools just embrace this process. Our student behavior has improved. We saw a 28.6% decrease in office discipline referrals last year and we attribute that largely to our Leader in Me process, so we're very, very grateful for that. You may have also noticed the Speed of Trust book, and that's a book study that our district leaders are getting ready to embark upon this year. Again, trust is fundamental for an organization to grow, so we're going to try to dive deeply into that process as well. So again, it's been a very good partnership with FranklinCovey for us here.
Speaker 1:That's perfect. Thank you for sharing that. Just worked out great.
Speaker 6:It did, and that's, I think it's a great segue too. We've talked a lot about community and staff and their reactions to, and even alumni to your social media. How have the students in the schools reacted to it? Are they also knocking on your door saying can we be in the next video? Has it caused any fun and notable waves for your, for your students?
Speaker 3:yes, so on instagram they may act big and bad that they don't like it whenever we go into the schools and they see the camera, they perk up.
Speaker 3:They might make comments to us. The other day I was filming and the cheerleaders wanted to do this and the teacher was like no, no, I don't like that. I don't know what that means. So it's interesting to see them bringing the stuff that they've been seeing like trend wise. Obviously, like she said, we never want it to be without a message just for clicks, but we're definitely looking at ways to incorporate them even more throughout the school year. As part of the leader in me, we want them to be part of the content creation aspect.
Speaker 1:Perfect. Well, we know some of our podcast joiners listen on Apple and Spotify, but we're also available on YouTube, and this would be one of those podcasts you definitely want to watch on YouTube so you can see these videos. For those of you that are listening, please go to Valdosta City Schools and check out these videos. You will not be disappointed. Ken Dacey, why don't we share one more video before we call it a day? I saw you know this video will come out on Monday. Next Monday, which I believe is August, the August 14th or 15th. Ivy's going to look at her phone real quick.
Speaker 1:August the 18th or the 18th it was one of those and so we're filming the Wednesday before. So, podcast listeners, this is the Wednesday before. But I noticed on your social media I looked this morning right before we got on it looks like you've got a big military appreciation night coming up on Friday night. Talk to us about that. You got Moody Air Force Base there. It's very important for a school district to have a good relationship with the military base there. But talk a little bit about some of the unique opportunities that you have having a military base right there in town.
Speaker 2:So one of the things that's really neat here for us in Valdosta, like you said, since Moody is right here here we have something called the Moody Moody School Board Liaison Committee and we meet quarterly and by we that is, us Lounds, barian Lanier and I think I feel like maybe this year they've added another system so all the superintendents and PR people meet quarterly and we all take turns hosting, and the military appreciation nights were something that was born out of that Ms Blick committee several years ago after, as a way really to kind of celebrate not celebrate, that is a terrible word but commemorate and memorialize what happened on September 11th.
Speaker 2:We used to kind of gear it around that date, but it's gotten kind of hard with schedules and things like that. So we always now just make sure that at one point during the season we have military appreciation, which for us in Valdosta City that allows you to bring your military ID, whether you're retired or active, and you get free admission into the game and we usually have pre-game recognition and I think again at halftime our band director, mr Kimber, who is amazing typically tries to do something to celebrate America. You know just all and what those men and women do day in and day out for our country, putting their lives on the line to keep us protected at all costs. So it's been a really great thing that was kind of born out of that committee. But it's also the first home game of the season, so we're really excited as we embark on the road to 1000.
Speaker 2:I don't know if you've seen that video as well but we are the winningest high school football team in the country and we're getting really close to being the first high school football team to have 1,000 wins under their belt, and that's something we're really proud of.
Speaker 1:I should get credit. I donated three of those wins as a player back in high school to Valdosta, so I feel like I'm a part of that. Take your contribution.
Speaker 4:Thank you, if I may add again, moody Air Force Base is a wonderful partner. Valdosta City Schools is a military-friendly school system. We have two military flagship schools, salas Mahone Elementary and Valdosta Middle School, where we go above and beyond to make sure that any military families that move in the area we will love to take care of your children here in our school system. So again, we make sure that everybody is treated well and we would love to have all military families come on over to Valdosta City Schools and learn with us.
Speaker 1:That's fantastic. My wife was an Army brat. She went to in four years it's a true story. In four years of high school she went to three different high schools in three different states, only had to stay at one for two years. So I've always heard her side of that story and I know how important it is for the local school district to be mindful of that and take care of those military families that are serving us because they have unique challenges as a military family. Well, dr Lockhart, y'all share with us. What are maybe, as we wrap this segment up, what are the priorities for Valdosta City Schools this year?
Speaker 4:So, again, literacy is always at the forefront of our priorities here, as well as student achievement in regards to trying to make sure that everyone has strong character, very good disciplinary traits. One thing that we're doing that is new this year is we are getting ready to launch a campaign. Everyday Counts. The Georgia DOE is also launching this campaign, in which we're going to try to fight chronic absenteeism. The absenteeism rate in Valdosta City Schools is above the state average, in which we have students who are missing 10 or more days of school. We also have the third highest mobility rate in the state of Georgia, and that's something that we also need to try to tackle. So we're trying to put a laser, sharp focus on attendance, rewarding students who are at school each and every day, trying to make sure that we can get the most out of their educational experience. So, again, we're focused on making sure that every child is in school each and every day, and if they're not, we're going to do what we can to support them, to get them back into school.
Speaker 1:Fantastic. Literacy and absenteeism Fantastic. Go ahead, Jennifer.
Speaker 2:As well, but this year, as we started school, our retention is much better as far as our staff as well. We had the smallest group of new employees that we've had since I started here. Something's going right in leadership as well, to keep people happy in where they are. So he's been a little humble and not mentioning that, but something that's very worthy of mentioning, and that our transportation department this year started out 100 staff.
Speaker 1:I don't know that we've ever done that, so that was also really awesome for us and there's a lot of school districts who would love to make those last two points that you made, and literacy, of course, is a priority for the state. The chronic absenteeism they had a senate committee meeting last week on that. The house committee is doing a study as well, so that's on the forefront of everyone's mind, along with school safety Sounds like Valdosta City Schools is way ahead of the curve. Well, we just want to thank you so much for joining us today. Congratulations on an awesome beginning of the school year. I want to encourage our Gale members that are listening to this. You really need to go to Valdosta City Schools social media and check these videos out. You will not be disappointed and it may give you ideas of things that maybe you can do back home in your home district, and I'm sure Candacy and Jennifer would love to talk to you if you wanted to reach out to them. Any parting words you'd like to say before we sign off today?
Speaker 4:to them Any parting words you'd like to say before we sign off today? Well, the way we adjourn here is we say vision values, victory.
Speaker 1:Go Cats. That's awesome. Well, thank you again for joining us today. Thank you, gale, family, and we'll see you next week for another exciting episode of Gale Unscripted.
