Employees of Bryan County Schools got an early start to the 2014-2015 school year Friday with a system-wide convocation at Richmond Hill Middle School.

Superintendent Dr. Paul Brooksher started the event last year and said he created it as a way to “bring all faculty and staff together to celebrate the kick off of the school year.”

“It’s great really because everyone is involved,” he said.

Each school, a central office team and a transportation team competed against each other for best T-shirt, best skit, and most overall spirit. Transportation won best T-shirt, Lanier Primary School and Richmond Hill Middle School tied for best skit and Bryan County Elementary won most overall sprit.

Keith Forkin, a U.S. history and world geography teacher at RHHS, was the master of ceremonies for the event and ran games between skits. Brooksher gave opening and closing remarks. The 2014-2015 teachers of the year were the event judges.

Kristen Floyd, a new Pre-K teacher at Lanier, said the convocation was “very uplifting, motivating and fun,” and that it was unlike any other county.

Brooksher said he was looking forword to “just another great year.”

“Our school system’s mission statement is: dedicated to rigorous educational tasks that challenge and motivate students while always being focused on continuous improvement,” Brooksher said, “and the great thing about our employees is that they are always trying to get better each year.”

He also urges parents to be patient with transportation in the coming days.

“It’ll take about a week to get everything running smoothly,” he said.