Urbana School District kicked off its year by revealing its new “Urbana Better Together” campaign during its 2019 Opening Day Celebration on Monday, August 19.
The “Urbana Better Together” campaign was revealed during the Opening Day Celebration, where Urbana organizations and USD116 community partners marched in alongside USD116 athletes and cheerleaders to music played by the Tiger Marching Band. A warm welcome was provided by Mayor of Urbana Diane Marlin, USD116 Board of Education President John H. Dimit, Champaign Urbana Schools Foundation Executive Director Kelly Hill and Urbana Education Association President Bryan Lake.
This year’s USD116 Opening Day was different from previous Opening Day events, as The District celebrated new beginnings prepared for a bright future ahead. USD116 employees were able to hear directly from their new leader, Superintendent Ivory-Tatum, who celebrated the staff, challenged everyone to work together, and shared her Superintendent Goals for the year. Employees from every USD116 building also wore their favorite Urbana Tigers and school spirit gear as they gathered in the Urbana Middle School gym.
“It was the perfect way to get the community partners to join hands with our teachers as we move together into a bright new future,” said USD116 Superintendent Dr. Ivory Tatum. “We know that we can only improve if the community and our district work together, and Opening Day was a great way to kickstart some important collaboration.”
Several community partners and USD116 administrators spoke about the importance of working together to make the Urbana community stronger and help USD116 students succeed. USD116 Superintendent Ivory-Tatum spoke about the importance of student, family, and student engagement.
The new USD116 logo was also revealed during the event as employees from all USD116 schools opened shirts that displayed the new logo and a list of Urbana community partners. The District announced on July 26 that it would be working on a new brand identity and asked that the Urbana community vote on their favorite logo out of three choices. USD116 Director of Marketing and Communications Kameron R. Williams said The District would work with students throughout the upcoming school year to make the logo perfect before it is used as the official image for The District.
USD116 is currently planning “Urbana Better Together” activities and workshops for USD116 students for the 2019-2020 school year. The District hopes that the campaign will cultivate student success by creating and strengthening connections between itself and its community partners.