It was called a convocation, but by all accounts, it was more like an all district pep rally. Faculty and staff arriving for the morning meeting in the Erie High gymnasium were greeted by the Erie marching band and cheers from the cheerleading squad.

Jolessa Paterniti a K-2 emotional support/special education teacher at Lincoln Elementary was inspired by the session.  "This is my 3rd year with the district.  I've never seen anything like it, this was really cool actually coming in feeling the energy of the new school year," Paterniti said.

New superintendent Dr. Natalyn Gibbs aimed to ignite the fire and drive in the entire team with a message centered on her theme for the year #bet, build excellence together. "It was about making sure that we work together as a team, we celebrate the small wins and we check on each other," Dr. Gibbs said adding we're going to be champions for kids, but I also want to make sure they are champions for themselves and their colleagues."

Her message clearly resonated across the gym with teachers like Jolessa.  "When you have this many people coming together recognizing the difficulties that our students have, giving us that reminder why we're doing it...like you're there to make sure that kiddos are safe and they're having the best school experience and learning.  At the end of the day, we want them to learn something and if they just learn that this is somewhere they can be safe, we're doing our job."

And the message resonated with those in administration, like Lori Pickens who supervises behavioral and mental health specialists and programs. "This was great - I think anytime you can bring everyone together...encourage people an motivate them at the start of a new school year...after summer it's always real igniting -- i thought it was a wonderful turnout and a great response."

And now that all the faculty and staff are feeling really energized for the new school yea,r the hope is when students come back to class on august 25th they'll feel energized and ready to learn as well.  "I'm ready for the kids to come in, I'm excited...let's get started," Paterniti said.

The first day of school for students is Monday August 25.