On the achievements at Workman Middle School
Workman is the only middle school inside the Pensacola city limits. And its achievements over the past three years must be celebrated.
Workman Middle School
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This year has already seen a number of milestones in my family, with more to come. Our eldest daughter graduated from Washington High (my alma mater) and heads off to college. And our younger daughter finished up at Workman Middle School and is forging her own path at West Florida High in the fall.
Workman is the only middle school inside the Pensacola city limits. We've now finished six years there across our two children, and I want to share something my wife, Shannon, wrote that sums up our experience — especially this second time around.
Later today this page will be full of proud mama content as my oldest graduates from high school. So before it gets away from me, I wanted say a few words about my youngest daughter's eighth-grade promotion ceremony at Workman Middle School.
I am immensely proud of my own eighth-grader, but I want to say for the record I am proud of every eighth-grader at Workman. Here's a recap of what Principal Derrick Thomas shared about our eighth-graders during the ceremony:
34 students scored Level 5 on the state standardized tests.
53 scored at Level 4.
3 students scored perfect on ELA, Science and Algebra 1.
84 percent of our students earned proficiency in Algebra 1 and 74 percent earned proficiency in Biology 1 — both of which are high school-credit courses.
70 students earned industry certifications from the Florida Career and Professional Education Act.
Every adult at Workman Middle School taught my child something valuable. Sometimes it was algebra she learned, sometimes it was civics, history, or what makes a great piece of literature. Sometimes she learned culinary arts, other times she learned business marketing skills. Sometimes she learned discipline. Sometimes empathy. She learned why the rules matter and how hard work pays off.
The team at my middle school are the real thing. They mean business, and their business is building the best middle school in this school district.
Mr. Thomas shared that the data as it stands indicates we are on track to be a B school. When the final inputs are made later this year, I hope he is correct. But I know what my daughter learned in her three years there is light-years more than just a letter grade on a state standardized testing system reveals.
So I say to our Workman family: Go show them. Go show them who you are and what you can do. When you hear them say public education is in crisis, don't believe the hype.
Well-said, wife.
