HANCEVILLE — Leaders from Cullman’s three biggest educational institutions gathered Friday afternoon for the Cullman Area Chamber or Commerce’s annual State of Education luncheon, sharing achievements as well as giving insight into what the future holds for area schools.

Cullman City School Superintendent Kyle Kallhoff said that in order to move forward city schools first needed to look back on lessons the administration had learned from the upheaval brought on by COVID-19.

“We learned that we were not ready for sudden change. Moving forward we need to lean on what we learned in the last two years,” Kallhoff said.

The city superintendent said that moving forward more emphasis would be placed on STEM courses.

In spite of a lack of face-to-face learning, Kallhoff shared the impressive statistics from each of the five schools that make up the system. Cullman High School is ranked within the top 5% of schools in the state, both East and West Elementary Schools seeing double digit percentage growth in their STAR scores at the midyear mark, and 90% of kindergarten students at Cullman Primary School have number recognition skills by midyear. Kallhoff acknowledged the educators inside of the classrooms for being able to make these achievements possible.

Cullman County School Superintendent Shane Barnette spoke of improvements within his school district that have taken place over the course of his time as superintendent.

With graduation rates in the low 80th percentile, Barnette said that they are now experiencing over 95% of students graduating, as well as mentioning that the general fund is currently higher than ever in history.

Barnette said an emphasis has been placed on career and workforce learning opportunitiesand by partnering with Wallace State, students are able to participate in the Fast Track to Industry program that allows them to join the workforce right out of high school.

Eighth grade students are currently participating in the We Build It Better Program that enables students to not only craft a product with their own hands, but how to effectively market their creations. Seventh grade students are learning to pilot drones, and host a county wide drone competition on May 6.

Barnette also teased a new five year strategic plan that would bring even more amenities to county schools in the hopes of continuing an upward trajectory over the last several years.

“While we’re proud of our rich tradition and heritage here at Cullman County Schools, we’re not satisfied,” Barnette said.

Suzanne Harbin, with Wallace State, spoke of a downward trend in enrollment for community colleges that stands in stark contrast to the experiences of Wallace State Community College.

With enrollment for the spring semester up 128% Harbin stated WSCC had the fourth highest enrollment in the Alabama Community College System, as well as being ranked first in growth.

Concluding the event each system acknowledged their students and teachers.

April Dean and Christopher Smith were named Teachers of the Year for Cullman City Schools. Dean was also recently announced to be one of the top 16 finalists considered for the statewide Teacher of the Year award.

Ana Calvert and Anita Whitlock were named County School Teachers of the Year.

Ashley Ball was named Teacher of the Year for WSCC by student vote.

Enrique Castro, who acts as WSCC’s mascot was named WSCC Student of the Year.

Vinemont senior Ana Andreas was name Cullman Area Technology Academy Student of the Year.

Fairview senior Peyton Trotter was named Student of the Year.