By Heath Grimes

For the FCT

It’s the season of thankfulness, and we have so much to be thankful for at Russellville City Schools.

I am especially thankful for our amazing teachers and students.

We have teachers here at RCS who continually go above and beyond to make sure their students are not only learning but are engaged and excited about their learning experience. Our teachers from Pre-K through 12th grade utilize technology and
creativity to make their lessons come alive. They put in the hours during school and outside of school to ensure their students’ success, and they support each other and collaborate with other educators to continue their own education, always looking for
ways to be better teachers.

The same can be said for our staff, who make sure our schools are always running at top notch. There is no doubt we have the best faculty and staff.

Our students give me new reasons every week to be proud of them. Our students are motivated, dedicated and they work hard at whatever they do. From athletics to academics to extracurriculars to fine arts, our students aim to succeed, and they learn
so many life lessons along the way. We take pride in teaching the whole child here at RCS, and with the strong character
our students display, you can see this is evident.

A column about thankfulness wouldn’t be complete without mentioning how thankful I
am for our community. The community we have here in Russellville is second to none. I know there are many districts that would love to have the kind of support that we have here at RCS. Our community shows up big for sporting events and supporting fundraisers, but one of the biggest shows of support came a few weeks ago with the affirmation of the
amendment to extend the 1-cent sales tax for our local schools for a 30-year period. I cannot tell you how important this is for our system and what a difference it will make in our students’ education here at RCS.

Thank you, sincerely, for recognizing that our children are our greatest resource, and thank you for investing in their future! Because of this support, I know we will have so much more to be thankful for in the years to come.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving, reflecting on all the many blessings we have.