Homewood school board honors exceptional student-athletes
The Homewood Board of Education on Tuesday night recognized some of the district’s exceptional student-athletes for recent accomplishments, including three state championships.
First, Superintendent Justin Hefner and the school board honored Homewood High School cross-country standout Emma Brooke Levering, who recently was named the 2023-24 Gatorade Alabama Girls Cross-Country Runner of the Year. Levering is only the second female athlete from Homewood to win the statewide Gatorade honor, which has been given out for 39 years.
“This award celebrates the nation's top high school athletes in each sport for their excellence on the field, in the classroom and in the community,” Hefner said. “She spends a lot of her free time serving multiple community service initiatives through her church and carries a really hefty GPA as well. So she is quite impressive, and to all of our younger student-athletes in the crowd, the bar is very high.”
Levering is a four-time All-State honoree and won the 2023 Class 6A state cross-country meet, among other accomplishments. She also is a tenor saxophone player in the Patriots Marching Band, volunteers with the Peer Helpers drug and alcohol prevention program and mentors special needs students in the Best Buddies program.
“Emma Brooke Levering is pretty incredible,” school board member David Thompson said. “Her accomplishments on the field are awesome, but in every area of life she works hard. She is impressive and very level-headed.”
Next, Hefner recognized the Homewood Middle School girls and boys basketball teams, each of which captured Metro championships this school year. Hefner began by introducing the girls team and asked head coach Teresa McGhee to say a few words about the team and their exceptional season, especially against rival Mountain Brook.
“As you know, everyone wants to beat Mountain Brook,” McGhee said, “but for me, not being from Homewood or Mountain Brook, I want to beat everyone.”
McGhee then spoke about the team’s resilience in beating the Spartans in the Metro Championship after losing twice to Mountain Brook in the regular season, including one loss of more than 20 points. In the championship game, McGhee said the Patriots fell behind early, but eventually went on a 20-2 streak to beat the Spartans.
“I watched a film that night right after the game. That's how exciting that game was for me,” McGhee said. “I know for the girls, that was the win they wanted the most this season because we beat every team at least once in Metro, but Mountain Brook was just the last one we had to take down.”
Hefner then recognized head boys coach Michael Pruitt and the middle school boys team, which, for the second year in a row, went undefeated and captured the Metro championship, its 13th championship overall.
“Last year we established we had never had an undefeated team, and we’ve certainly never had an undefeated team two years in a row,” Hefner said. “That’s a really big deal and may never be touched again.”
In conjunction with National Board of Education Recognition Month, Hefner stated his appreciation for the members of the Homewood Board of Education ‑— President Jill Kimbrell, Judy Truitt, Justin Russell, Sheetal Cordry, and Thompson, all of whom he said work diligently to support the staff members, teachers and administrators who are instrumental in making Homewood one of the top school systems in Alabama.
“We are honoring our school board, five selfless individuals who live in our community,” Hefner said. “They are not educators; they’re just people who love Homewood and love Homewood City Schools. They are five people who are very easy to work with, which is great for everybody who works for the school system. Five just very dedicated, kind people who really love our community, love our schools, our staff and our students.”
In other business Tuesday, the school board:
- Awarded a bid to School Office Supply for $94,190 to purchase cafeteria furniture at Homewood Middle School.
- Approved two field trips for the Homewood High School Show Choir, the first on Feb. 3 to compete in the 2024 Jackson Academy Show Choir Invitational in Jackson, Mississippi, followed by a trip to Cincinnati to compete in the Ross Legacy Championship on Feb. 23-25.
- Approved a resolution to ensure that non-certified staff are paid for a full day’s work on pre-approved early release days and inclement weather days.
- Lastly, Hefner congratulated the school system on finishing the accreditation process and for achieving high marks in all four areas of review: culture of learning, leadership for learning, engagement for learning and growth in learning.
The review team found Homewood City Schools to be above the national average in every category, Hefner said. The system’s total score was 356, compared to the worldwide average of 253, he said.
“Really high marks, which we may not be surprised by, but we certainly don’t take that for granted — the hard work that goes into making that happen,” Hefner said. “I think our greatest challenge is ensuring that greatness continues, and that is a hard thing for organizations that operate at a high level.”
The next Homewood Board of Education meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 5:30 p.m.