Teachers and administrators from across the county gathered for the first time since summer break Wednesday morning at Flomaton High School for the Escambia County Board of Education’s annual Teacher Institute.

During the event, principals from each county school had the opportunity to recognize the hard work and dedication each of their staffs display year after year and encourage them to continue those same efforts into the 2010-11 year, which will begin Monday morning.

Rachel Patterson Elementary School principal Susan McKenzie shed a different light on the start of a new school year during her address stating that each year teachers have the opportunity to start over.

“First days are milestones in our lives,” she said.

McKenzie went on to say that last year was a “phenomenal” year at RPES and encouraged not only her staff, but all staffs across the county to “raise the bar” this upcoming school year.

Each principal also had the opportunity to recognize the new teachers and staff members joining their teams this year individually. Huxford Elementary School Principal Donna Silcox was the only one not able to do so, having no new teachers or staff members this year.

“I probably have the most dedicated staff as any school in the county,” she said. “We have no new teachers this year. They like it so much that they keep staying.”

Escambia County High School principal Zickeyous Byrd, who made his way to the stage to the same music used by the late wrestler “Ravishing” Rick Rude and wearing a flashy white suit, once again did not disappoint as he entertained the crowd. Byrd, whose yearly addresses have become the talk of the Institute and were referred to numerous times throughout his colleagues’ addresses, came armed with a Power Point presentation featuring comedic photos including one of W.S. Neal Middle School principal Dennis Hadaway on his motorcycle dressed in leather.

“Let the truth be told, they really don’t like me,” he joked referring to his colleagues.

Byrd also referred to his lunch date with Silcox at Pizza Hut following the Institute last year.

“All eyes were on us like we couldn’t be a couple,” he joked. “So I took her hand and said, ‘come on baby.’ We’re calling ourselves ‘Salt & Pepper.’”

Following the principals, Superintendent of Education Billy Hines also addressed the staffs issuing his annual Superintendent’s Challenge. With the release of the Alabama AYP Accountability Reports earlier in the week, Hines’ challenge was simple: Dedication.

“It’s time to step it up a notch,” he said during his address. “I want to see 180 days of dedicated teaching from each teacher.”

Hines went on to say that he wants each teacher to view his or her class as the most important of the day encouraging each to “not waste time.” In an example, he said that if a teacher spends the first and last five minutes of each class with free time that they have done an injustice to the students because over the course of the year the students would have been “robbed” of 1,800 minutes or 30 days of learning.

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, all schools are expected to reach 100 percent of their goals by 2014, which school officials have said is impossible. AYP reports track each school’s progress as 2014 is approached.

Later, teachers and staff had the opportunity to visit the system’s third annual vendor fair in the FHS gymnasium. Thirty vendors made up of business in and around the county showed off the products they offer and believe would be beneficial to teachers, gave away school supplies and held numerous drawings.