Madison Contreras and Caleb Kimbro

Writers

As Marlow Public Schools flips a new page for its 2019-20 school year, there comes a new theme, known as “Transcend,” which represents the individual goals of the school and the student body as a whole.

Each year, MPS chooses a new word to represent the goals they want to accomplish that year.

Explaining a few goals of this year’s theme, Marlow High School principal Bryan Brantley describes the meaning of the selected word.

“Transcend means to rise above or go beyond,” said Brantley. “We have a great school here, but we don’t need to just be satisfied with having a great school. We need to go above and beyond what we’re used to doing. We have successes, but let’s have greater successes. Let’s step outside of our comfort zone and go beyond what we’re accustomed to doing.”

A few specific goals that Brantley listed for the year were a higher level of preparation for state and ACT testing, a greater amount of students going to and finishing college, a larger amount of students enrolling in a technology center and earning a certificate, a more significant amount of enrollment in extracurricular activities and much more.

Specifying one of the ways MPS wants students to go beyond, MHS counselor Amy Herchock goes more in-depth about wanting students to set goals for after high school.

“We want to see more students taking ownership of an anticipated career path,” Herchock said. “It may not have anything to do with college; it may have something to do with after high school, like starting their own business or getting a trade skill. Nevertheless, we are encouraging students to start establishing that type of plan in their minds so we can better help them get there.”

Noting the changes she has already seen, senior Sydney Blundell explains why she feels “transcend” is a worthy theme for the year.

“I believe the theme is good because kids need to push themselves to do more instead of being on their phone all the time,” Blundell said. “Since my freshman year, I’ve noticed a lot more kids joining FCCLA, cheer, bootlegger or any other activity they aren’t typically comfortable with.”

As the year unfolds, MPS hopes to see improvements made throughout the student body as a whole.