Willie Spears, a motivational speaker with an extensive background in education, pointed to the crowd of teachers at the Rome City Auditorium on Friday morning and hit them with a message.
“I want to encourage you to motivate, to be prepared, to be organized, to realize this is hard work. We don't want to go through the motions. Enjoy what you do, and remember the impact that you're making,” Spears said. “You're making a tremendous impact in the lives of these students, a tremendous impact, and we’re grateful for you.”
Spears energetic speech which mixed meaningful lessons with lots of humor had teachers laughing, clapping and thinking. Spears served as the keynote speaker for the 2025 Rome City Schools Kickoff Classic.
He also reminded the teachers of a key fact.
“The world already has enough negativity in it. Don’t bring more negativity into the classroom,” he said. “Be positive and be a positive role model for your students.”
The event saw all Rome City Schools teachers and staff travel to the Rome City Auditorium on Friday morning. Once there, they were greeted by the Rome High band, cheerleaders and the mascot, Willie the Wolf. The day serves as a massive pep rally and marks the start of the 2025-2026 school year.
Rome High’s Air Force JROTC cadets presented the colors while Grand Finale, Rome High School’s Show Choir, performed the national anthem and members of the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance.
The district also unveiled its slogan for the new school year.
Engage Students. Empower Staff. Elevate Our Success.
That slogan could be seen on the red shirts worn by more than 900 people at the auditorium.
Several people spoke at the event, including Rome Board of Education Vice Chair Will Byington, Rome City Manager Sammy Rich, Rome Police Chief Denise Downer-McKinney, and Atrium Health Floyd CEO Kurt Stuenkel. All of them talked about the importance of education and how much they and Rome appreciate teachers.
Rome City Schools Superintendent Dr. Eric L. Holland took to the stage later in the event and spoke about the importance of this year’s slogan.
“My day to change the world is over, but I also have a platform to strike the brain that just might change the world. Everything you say that comes out of your mouth, the kids listen to it,” Dr. Holland said. “I want you to continue to strike your students' curiosity about reading and about literacy. We want to continue to get our kids not to school but through school, not to college but through college, and not to life but through life.”
Rome City Schools honored two employees who have reached 30 years with the system, Belinda Miller and Penny Atkinson. West Central Elementary was honored for Best Staff Attendance, Best Staff Retention and Best Safe Place to Work while Elm Street Elementary was honored for Best School Culture.
After a couple of videos highlighting words from students, teachers and principals and an inspirational story from East Central Elementary teacher Nicole Kunczewski, the spirit competition took over.
Elm Street’s teachers won the dance competition while West Central triumphed again in the school spirit contest. Everyone then got out of their seats with many dancing along to the song “Boots on the Ground”. The day finished with the singing of the alma mater as teachers and staff linked arms and swayed as they sang before heading back to their classrooms energized and ready to start the new school year.