SAISD honors Goodfellow at back-to-school event Published Aug. 27, 2012 By Airman 1st Class Erica Flores 17 TRW/PA GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas- -- The San Angelo Independent School District once again showed its support for Team Goodfellow at the SAISD's annual "Back-to-School" convocation Aug. 22. Held at the Foster Communications Coliseum, 2,000 SAISD employees from each of the different schools within San Angelo and invited key leaders from Goodfellow came together to celebrate the beginning of another school year. "The purpose of this event is for people to look across the room and see 'I'm a critical part of this team, a team that works together in order to make a great educational environment,'" said Dr. Carol Ann Bonds, San Angelo school district superintendent. "It is important that every child in our school district gets the education and dedication from the members of SAISD that they need to reach their goals and full potential in learning." Attending the convocation were Goodfellow's commanders and their spouses, led by Col. Mark Damiano, 17th Training Wing Commander. The members of SAISD honored the service men and women who were seated on stage by introducing each key leader from the base to the crowd. The San Angelo community has long been known for its support of the military. Often one finds that while out at lunch in uniform, the bill is usually picked up by a kind stranger and the "Thank you for service!" is often heard while out and about. This gratitude from the community can also be seen within the education of children from military families. "Members of Goodfellow entrust in us about 660 of their own children each year," said Bonds . "We want the parents to see how important they are and how much we value their service and we want these members to know that we are going to take care of their children." The event featured the Posting of the Colors by members of the Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps from Central High School and Lake View High School. A performance of the Star Spangled Banner and the song 'From Sea to Shining Sea' was given by the Central and Lake View High Schools' band and choir. The guest speaker for the event was Eric Alexander, an expert skier who has climbed the highest mountain peak on six continents. He spoke of his difficult climb on Mt. Everest with his blind teammate, Erik Weihenmayer. SAISD choose Alexander as the guest speaker because he encompassed the quality of what the whole event was about, overcoming obstacles and working together as a team to accomplish a common goal. But SAISD's goal rather than climbing a mountain is to teach the children of San Angelo and Goodfellow. Bonds said Team Goodfellow should know that when they send their children off to school this year to the San Angelo schools, their children are in good hands "The active duty military at Goodfellow, regardless of their branch of service, have entrusted their children to us, and while they are doing their jobs serving our nation, we must do our jobs to help their children reach all that they can be," said Bonds.
