Kids who are involved tend to be better students and more productive in school.” This perspective aligns with contemporary educational research suggesting that arts education and athletic participation develop crucial noncognitive skills including perseverance, teamwork, and creative problem-solving. The district deliberately provides diverse opportunities across all educational levels. “We offer a wide array of things for kids to get involved in,” Street explains. “Some places, if you’re not into sports or certain activities, you run out of options. Here we have hundreds of options in our schools. I place a lot of value on having a strong core curriculum as well as a wide array of performing arts, electives, and sports programs.” Dr. Voelker highlights the exceptional quality of these programs, many of which have received state and national recognition. “It would be hard to find a district with such a strong band, choir, orchestra, and theater programs as our school district at both New Albany and Floyd Central High Schools,” he says. “Floyd Central won the state orchestra competition in 2023.The Floyd Central Choir won the Mixed Choir championship in 2015.” In addition to those State Honors, New Albany High School’s Boys Basketball has had success with a State Championship in 2016. Both New Albany High School and Floyd Central High School share a radio station as well as offering state recognized radio and TV multimedia classes. The district’s offerings include athletics and other competitive activities. “Many places say, ‘we’re a football school’ or ‘we’re a basketball school,’ but we pride ourselves on excelling across all sports and competitions. Both high schools’ ROTC programs have nationally ranked shooting teams,” notes Dr. Voelker. LEADERSHIP THROUGH LIFELONG LEARNING Educational leadership research indicates that school 277 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 05 NEW ALBANY-FLOYD COUNTY SCHOOLS (NAFCS)
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