Chamber hosts Rockwall ISD New Teacher and Employee Welcome Breakfast

(ROCKWALL, TX – August 8, 2018) The Rockwall Area Chamber of Commerce joined Rockwall ISD for the annual New Teacher and Employee Welcome Breakfast at Rockwall-Heath High School on Tuesday, Aug. 7. The 137 incoming teachers and employees to the school district enjoyed a nutritious meal and heard some stimulating speeches from special guests during the event.

Kicking off a new year in Rockwall ISD

The breakfast event got started with an update on the school district heading into the new school year from Rockwall ISD Superintendent Dr. John “JJ” Villarreal. The Dr. Gene Burton College & Career Academy will open to students this year, along with the new Dobbs Elementary. Villarreal said Rockwall ISD will see an additional 300 students coming into the district this upcoming school year. He said the College & Career Academy will help provide much-needed enrollment relief for Rockwall and Rockwall-Heath high schools.

“We’ll pull 400 students from Rockwall High School and 400 from Rockwall-Heath High School to help with enrollment. Right now our goal is to have 800 students every period of the day to be entered and enrolled in a course at the College & Career Academy,” Villarreal said.

A motivational message

Following Villarreal’s update, breakfast attendees heard an inspiring speech on how to maintain positive relationships from renowned speaker and author Vicki Hitzges. A former award-winning television news anchor in Dallas, Hitzges was mentored by legendary motivational speaker Zig Ziglar. She has also interviewed five U.S. presidents and has given speeches across the globe.

Hitzges noted that there are two types of people – “Here I Am” people and “There You Are” people. The former are the type of people who gravitate towards attention and want to be noticed wherever they go. In their minds, they are the only thing that matters.

“There You Are” people, on the other hand, want to turn the spotlight on others rather than themselves. Hitzges said these people care for others more than they care about themselves.

“The question we have to ask ourselves is which kind of person am I?” Hitzges said. “Are we primarily people who say, ‘Here I am, care about me.’? Or are we people who say, ‘There you are, and I care about you; You matter to me, and I want you to know that you’re significant.’?”

To conclude the New Teacher and Employee Welcome Breakfast, event guests enjoyed a raffle drawing with fun prizes courtesy of local businesses and organizations.

Story and photos by Austin Wells, Blue Ribbon News.

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