During the 2014-15 school year, FHSD will be celebrating its 100th
year as a district. While the centennial is still months away, plans are
already being made to celebrate this accomplishment. The District
will have a parade on Saturday, May 10, in Cottleville starting at Warren
Elementary and ending at Central. Each high school will have a float in the
parade. Activities Director Mike Janes has been working with North’s Student
Advisory Group (SAG) to brainstorm ideas for the float.
“We want to do something to bring everyone together and portray our school
well,” Janes said. “The group has lots of ideas. I like that each school gets to come
up with their own ideas and make their own decisions.”
The group has talked about including Knightline, the cheerleaders, and Norm
the Knight to help do this. Nicole Morse is a part of SAG and has many ideas
already when it comes to the set up of the float.
“We’re thinking about adding a castle since we’re the Knights,” Morse said. “I
also like the idea of having a huge banner with all the school’s clubs.”
SAG is still in the planning stages of the float and is working with the clubs at
North to get their logos to add to the float. The group plans to build the float in
the next few weeks.
“We’re trying to build it all ahead of time to get it done as early as possible,”
Morse said. “I like that I’m involved in this to be able to make an impact and have
student voice. I’m just excited to see how it all turns out.”
After the parade concludes, the celebration will continue in Legacy Park,
where there will be food trucks, inflatables, and a DJ for entertainment. FHSD
Communications Director Jennifer Henry has been in charge of helping plan this
event and is getting more excited as the date approaches.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to bring the community together and learn
about the districts heritage and get involved,” Henry said. “We want as many
people involved as possible so I’m excited to see everyone come out and have
fun.”
While the parade will be the kickoff for the centennial school year, FHSD will
also be doing other things to celebrate how far the district has come. The district
is plans on having 100 events next year, where each high school will be in charge
of four. North also plans on doing its own individual celebrations. These will take
place periodically throughout the school year.
“It’s really neat to do this sort of thing with the district’s history,” Janes said. “
I’m interested in learning more about it.”
Many things have changed in the district since it first opened in 1914 and
changes continue to be made daily to help improve the district. Recently, Howell
has seen a few renovation changes, with a new building including a cafeteria and
media center and North and Central both got new turf football fields. When it
comes to comparing FHSD to other school districts, administrators believe that
we are ahead of the game when it comes to technology and academics.
“The district has grown,” Janes said. “With Howell’s renovations and added
middle schools, we keep getting bigger. I think that we’re so far ahead compared
to other districts and that FHSD is really a good example for others.”