Civil Municipal Magazine - Nov 2023

224 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 11 Opportunities for Every Student Recognizing the importance of offering a diverse range of opportunities to its students, the Greene County School System has taken steps to bolster its successful athletic and fine arts programs. “Greene County has always had a strong emphasis on football, we usually have winning football teams, and they do well on track,” Dr. Houston boasts. “One emphasis that we’ve pushed in the last few years is our female athletic programs because we felt like there needed to be greater access.” Emily McClure explains. Part of this effort includes the introduction of new sports programs for female students, including flag football and volleyball. The district is also in the process of building a versatile baseball and softball turf field. “We already had a very nice turf stadium for football. We have certainly invested in our athletic programs,” She conveys. In the fine arts department, the focus is on the audiovisual film pathway and culinary arts. On the music side, Dr. Houston says, “We have two new band directors, due to retirements. So, we feel like we’re in the process of building a booster club for the band. And we’re trying to push a fundraising effort to buy new uniforms.” The district has also embraced the world of eSports, providing a platform for students who may not be athletically inclined. Dr. Houston emphasizes that their goal is to ensure that all students can plug into the school’s community and activities, and the eSports program has successfully attracted a new segment of students who actively participate and compete. A Successful Career Coaching Program An exceptional aspect of the Greene County School System is the Career Coaching Program. Dr. Houston expands, “In our College and Career Academy, we noticed that students would start a pathway, then they would decide they didn’t like it, and they would move to a different pathway. It was chaotic.” device and the utilization of the Canvas learning management system. “We added that shortly after the last hurricane. We lost power here for over a week, so we wanted to prepare for digital learning. That was prophetic and helpful, because we were more prepared for COVID than most, because of what we did to respond to the issue of the power outage from the hurricane.”