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Giving & Cheer Day 4 Core Value: Respect

Hello DSST Family, my name is Eric Hill, I am the recipient of the 2020 Core Value Award for respect. This is my fifth year at DSST, and my role is Dean of Students/Culture. I have been serving at the Cole High School Campus my entire time in the network. Respect is one of the network's core values but respect is also at the core of my work. Respect is not only something you say, teach, or expect but it is something that has to be consistently practiced. In my role, I have the opportunity to impact staff, students and families every day. Having these opportunities to practice and model respect through interactions contributes to the development and growth of a person as a whole.

The DSST values are important to me because they help us live in a way where accountability and expectations matter professionally and personally. We have to lead by example through our actions and the core values serve as guiding principles that support us in governing ourselves first so that we are able to help support others.

It takes a village: How the Cole Fire-Ball came together to showcase musicians in all 7 grades

Music is more than just knowing how to sing or play an instrument. Music is knowing how to book a tour, how to unload equipment and set up for a show or how to prepare for a recording session in a studio.

Giving & Cheer Day 3 Core Value: DYB

Giving & Cheer Day 2 Core Value: Integrity

Giving & Cheer Day 1 Core Value: Responsibility

Hello DSST! My name is Meriwether Joyner, recipient of the 2020 Core Value Award for Responsibility. This is my fourth year at CGHS and my eighth in education. I currently teach AP English and serve as the English Department Head as well as the 12th Grade House Leader. I was touched and honored to receive this award last year, and this year in particular has given me ample opportunity to reflect on my commitment to responsibility as well as the ways true responsibility impacts my work in education.

When I was given this award, I remember thinking it was likely because I had agreed to take on so much last year, wearing more hats than I ever had. And while this may be part of the reason, winning the award prompted me to question what true responsibility was. Was it just doing the work you are asked to do and taking on as much as you can handle?

More than Christmas: Learn about some of the other holidays celebrated this time of year

A note from Dr. Aaron J. Griffen, VP of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, Ash Gelb, Manager of Diversity Equity and Inclusion, and Mercedes Blea-Davis, Manager of Diversity and Belonging

First DSST-parent elected to DPS Board shares his perspective

Scott Esserman is the first DSST parent elected to the school board.

How one Montview senior turned years of hard work into major cross county success

You are the starting line waiting for the gun to go off. There are butterflies in your stomach. All those years of hard work have led to this moment.

The gun fires and you take off. You know your rhythm so you set your pace and let focus and control take over. You have been training for this. As you push toward the end, your body starts to ache but you push through the pain and give it everything you’ve got.

As Montview senior cross country runner Leah Hill crossed the finish line at the State 3A Cross Country Championships in October, she felt a sense of accomplishment.

“There’s just something really satisfying and meaningful about truly working hard for something, and having it come true,” Hill said. “I think that’s what cross country is. There’s no way around it.”

Hill placed third in the state, a feat which took years and years of training, according to both she and her coach, Connor Bohlken. Since she began seriously training, Hill has consistently been running between 35 and 60 miles per week, Bohlken said.

“Her training has been mind-numbingly boring, but that is exactly what it takes to be a good distance runner, and she has stuck with it through the frustration of running on her own for many, many miles,” Bohlken said. “In the winter especially [she runs] all by herself for nearly an hour every day. I know that she wouldn’t have had the same success this year if she hadn’t spent the time over the last two winters training on her own.”

Since the pandemic, it was difficult for Hill to stay motivated, but she continued to show up even when she didn’t feel like it, because she “knew it would be worth it in the end.”

While her coaches attribute the win to Hill’s hard work, Hill credits the coaches at DSST as well as her teammates.

“The coaches at DSST have been incredible. They have been so supportive of me and have all taught me so much within the sport as well as outside of it. When COVID-19 cancelled races, they helped me look for the light at the end of the tunnel, which is an attitude that I will continue to carry with me,” Hill said. “I also could not have done it without my teammates. I had the best teammates who trained with me until state, even after their own seasons were over.”

Bohlken is proud of the work Hill had done and has loved being her coach and teacher. Hill had not been considering running in college, but according to Bohlken, her tone has since changed.

“She is definitely checking out various schools’ running programs, and is considering running depending on where she goes, primarily because of the positivity she experienced being a part of a larger team with her friends,” Bohlken said. “I hope she does, because I know that with her work ethic, consistency and intelligent training she will do well wherever she goes.”
As for Hill, she just wants all students at DSST to know they can do anything, and running is an option for everyone.

“All you need is a pair of shoes.”

Standing in solidarity with our trans and nonbinary community for Transgender Awareness Week

A note from Dr. Aaron J. Griffen, VP of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

Native American Heritage Month: A brief look at the history of Native Americans and how you can honor the culture

November is National Native American Heritage Month. The DSST Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team put together some information to help inform people about the history of Native Americans and how you can honor the culture and heritage.