Rally Round the Flagpole: United We Stand for America’S Children

By Donna Snively Hulsey

When Donna Snively Hulsey found out in July 1989 that shed be the first principal of a state-of-the-art elementary school, she teamed up with the community and got to work.

It didnt matter that the school in Jacksonville, Florida, would not open until the fall of 1990: Before the first steel girder of Alimacani Elementary School was erected, the community began to spread a positive image of the school.

Within seven years of opening, the school was recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School and a National Safe and Drug-Free School, and accordingly was honored twice by the president of the United States at the White House.
Redbook magazine named Alimacani the top school in Florida for its uncompromising commitment to excellence in school and community partnerships. Three Alimacani teachers were individually tapped as Duval Teacher of the Year, Florida Physical Education Teacher of the Year, and Florida Media Specialist of the Year.

Whether youre a parent, an educator wanting to fix problems at an existing school or establish a solid foundation at a new one, or a concerned citizen working on behalf of children, youll find a blueprint for educational success in Rally Round the Flagpole.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Abbott Press
• Release date: Jun 22, 2016
• ISBN: 9781458219954

Donna Snively Hulsey

Donna Snively Hulsey is an award-winning principal who has served America and its youth as a teacher, principal, and regional director in the Duval County Public Schools in Jacksonville, Florida. She has also taught undergraduate and graduate level courses. She has two children, five grandchildren, and lives in Jacksonville with her husband.

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Copyright © 2016 Donna Snively Hulsey.

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ISBN: 978-1-4582-1994-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4582-2033-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4582-1995-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016901608

Abbott Press rev. date: 02/202017

CONTENTS

Preface

If we do not lay out ourselves in service to

mankind whom shall we serve?

—President John Adams

Chapter 1

In the Beginning

There is no limit to the greatness of America.

—President George W. Bush

Chapter 2

The Vision of the People

The vision for America is not that of the

President of the United States. It is the hopes

and dreams of the American people.

—President Lyndon Johnson

Chapter 3

The Journey Begins

We have within our reach the promise of a renewed

America. We can find meaning and reward by serving

some purpose higher than ourselves … a shining purpose,

the illumination of a thousand points of light.

—President George Bush

Chapter 4

The Alimacani Business Connection

We should not only use all the brains we

have but all we can borrow.

—President Woodrow Wilson

Chapter 5

The School Advisory Council

Citizen Service is the very American idea that we meet

our challenges not as isolated individuals but as members

of a true community with all of us working together. Our

mission is nothing less than to spark a renewed sense of

obligation, a new sense of duty, a new season of service.

—President William Clinton

Chapter 6

The School Volunteer

There are individuals and families whose voluntary gifts

support church, charity, culture, art and education.

Their patriotism is quiet but deep. The heroes of whom

I speak are you, the citizens of this blessed land.

—President Ronald Reagan

Chapter 7

Rally Round the Flagpole

And so my fellow Americans: Ask not what your country

can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.

—President John Kennedy

Patriotic Songs of America

References

No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave.

—President Calvin Coolidge

Rally Round the Flagpole is dedicated to the patriots in schoolhouses across America: visionary principals, dedicated faculty and staff, caring parents, selfless volunteers, and generous community leaders. Daily they share their knowledge and talents with America’s children. At the end of the day, they rest in the comfort of duty done.

On each Friday morning throughout the school year, the patriots of Arlington Heights, Fort Caroline, and Alimacani Elementary Schools in Jacksonville, Florida, rally round the flagpole with America’s youth. During a moment of silence, the assembled faculty, staff, and students reflect upon the words of President Calvin Coolidge:

We identify the flag with almost everything that we hold dear on earth: peace, security, liberty, our family, our friends, our home. But when we look at our flag and behold it emblazoned with all our rights, we must remember that it is equally a symbol of our duties. Every glory that we associate with it is the result of duty done.

God bless the patriots in schoolhouses across this great nation for duty well done!

PREFACE

If we do not lay out ourselves in service to mankind whom shall we serve?

—President John Adams

Alimacani Elementary School was a dream in my heart and in my head. My years of instructing children and their parents as well as teachers and principals had prepared me for this moment. My years of listening to their hopes and dreams had inspired me to take action. I was ready when the superintendent and the school board asked me to open a new state-of-the-art elementary school … or so I thought.

When the fog of euphoria lifted, it was a defining moment. I was alone with a book full of empty pages. Consolation came from an unlikely source: a wall of the LBJ Ranch Museum. Here I found solace and direction in the words of President Lyndon Baines Johnson:

A President does not shape a new and personal vision of America. He collects it from the scattered hopes of the American past.

In the same way, a principal does not shape a new and personal vision of a school. She finds it in the scattered hopes of the American people both inside and outside the schoolhouse: the faculty and staff, the parents and their children, the community and its leaders. Together we would create a superior school for our children and America.

Within seven years, Alimacani Elementary School was recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School and a National Safe and Drug-Free School, and accordingly was honored twice by the president of the United States at the White House. Redbook magazine named Alimacani the top school in Florida for its "uncompromising commitment to excellence in school and community