Daleville City Schools Superintendent Dr. Lisa Stamps has a vision for Daleville City Schools.

“When I arrived in Daleville this summer, I began talking with faculty and staff to analyze needs.  I began developing a vision for the system. I believe strongly in high standards and exemplary academics. So, my focus was to provide the best education possible for the DCS students,” Stamps said.  

Stamps believes that recognizing the accomplishments of staff and creating mentor relationships is imperative to success.

“At institute, I shared my theme with the staff, ‘We are the Warhawks, and we will rise.’ We recognized faculty for exemplary attendance, AP qualifying scores and student achievement.

Building relationships is vital to accomplishing goals. I am a people person and understand the positive impact that administrators, teachers, cafeteria workers, and bus drivers have on the lives of students,” Stamps said. “I began getting to know the faculty, staff, students, and parents of Daleville City Schools. I communicated closely with the board to make them aware of how we could increase the schools’ rich learning environment. We are developing more mentoring and advising opportunities for students to have someone who knows them well and can support them closely.”

Stamps set a goal to become more involved in the community and has since played a role in creating an after school program.

“Being active in the community has been a personal goal for me. We surveyed parents and discovered a great need to have after school programs. Joel Adams, other parent/community members and I have recently formed a Boys and Girls Club of Daleville under the leadership of Eufaula’s club,” Stamps said. “Working with the mayor and city council, we have secured a site to house the club. We are projecting to start this June with an exemplary summer program.”

Stamps is working to increase opportunities for DCS students.

“As a new Lion’s Club member, I am excited to help our high school students have the opportunity to attend the Youth Leadership Conference,” Stamps said. “I have worked with the newly formed DHS Alumni organization to increase involvement, pride, and traditions in the school as well as a scholarship for seniors.”

According to Stamps, the school system is actively recruiting faculty and staff to fill vacancies and assist with larger classes.

“Alabama is in a teacher shortage, and it affects our system as well. We are trying to recruit the best, brightest, and hardest working people to work in our schools. As school began, we filled several vacant teaching positions. Hiring additional staff to work with students helps with instruction,” Stamps said. “We hired an assistant principal at Windham since their numbers rose so drastically. We added a couple more para-pr

Fifteen cadets from Daleville High School JROTC, accompanied by Sgt. Maj. Kenneth Petty, attended the Alabama Joint Leadership Development Conference (AJLDC) in Birmingham on Dec. 9 and 10.

With nearly 5,000 students, educators, industry leaders, administrators and counselors in attendance, the AJLDC is the largest non-athletic joint gathering of students in the south- eastern United States for an educational purpose. This year’s theme was “Unleash Your Inner Champion.” The speakers were Chase Padgett, musician, actor, writer and improviser; Jessie Funk, certified life coach; and Svet Radoslavof, violinist, dancer and cancer survivor.

“This year Alabama Joint Leadership Development Conference was great,” Sgt. Maj. Petty said. “Unfortunately, new state members haven’t been selected yet the process is still on going but we do have two candidates applying to be state officers.”

The cadets learned about JROTC, leadership, self-improvement and many other life skills while at the conference.

“JLDC was a nice experience. It was my first year going and I learned so much more about JROTC and the role our state representatives play,” Cadet Private First Class Uasia Threatt said.

“Coming to JLDC made me realize a lot about myself,” Cadet Private First Class Hunter Tucker said. “I liked seeing the people on the stage exhibiting confidence as they spoke to the crowd. I loved meeting new people.”

“JLCD was a cool and fun experience to have. I got to learn how to better myself in leadership while playing fun games that made us interact with other cadets of different services,” Cadet Corporal Xyla Tucker said.

“It was fun at JLDC, the staff was great and the food was awesome,” Cadet Private First Class Mark Nimnuan said.

“It was a great first experience for me,” Cadet Corporal Jose Jimenez said. “I was able to learn a lot especially from the guest speaker, Jessica Funk. She spoke about having confidence in yourself and surrounding yourself with positive support and most important ... setting boundaries.”

Sgt. Maj. Petty said the experience was very beneficial for the students. He looks forward to more experiences that broaden the horizons of the students.