By Senator Page Walley
Our State Senate District is blessed with folks who are everyday heroes. They won’t likely be featured on network news or in Hollywood tabloids. But they are the backbone of our Nation and home area. I am going to lift up these heroes regularly and give them the accolades they deserve and that we need to celebrate.One such hero is Principal Steve Killingsworth at Adamsville High School. Six years ago he took the job with the belief that the most important lessons his students should learn was how to get along with people. In particular, how to deal with conflict and frustration without fights. As you know, that’s almost unheard of in our schools and society anymore.
In addition to Principal Killingsworth sharing his vision with his faculty and students, he set up a process by which students were encouraged to come to him or other faculty to share their frustrations and learn better ways to manage their behavior. It was akin to placing emotional smoke-alarms throughout the building to get an early warning and extinguish anger before it ignited into punches. And, in a brilliant motivational challenge, he promised the kids that – if they went all year without a fight – he would grill hamburgers and hotdogs himself and feed them in celebration.
Well, while there were five years of commitment and improvements, finally on May 16, six years after the vision and the ongoing commitment, Adamsville High celebrated an entire school year without a fight and with a festival of outdoor events – and lots of hamburgers and hotdogs grilled by the Man himself.
The students were proud, the faculty was proud, the community was proud, and Principal Killingsworth was covered in the remnants of flipping burgers on a hot grill – but humbly enjoying his six-year labor of love.
He and the Adamsville High faculty have done even more than they know. They have created solid citizens and future leaders who will always remember what they learned and how they learned it – and will “pay it forward” with the lives they now will touch. We are all better for Principal Killingsworth’s devotion and faith. Thank you, sir!
