What some schools would consider a rare or even sometimes unwelcomed experience, we embrace at Tallassee High School. For programs that share minimal common content, such as the Tallassee Music Department and Agricultural Department, there is this commonality: we seek to set the highest expectations for our students, and we will do whatever we can for them to ensure success. With programs as busy as ours are, and with calendars that stretch 12 months every year, sharing students does not come easily. It is a methodical work that requires sharing calendar dates and being flexible, even in the busiest of seasons, sacrificing where we can for the benefit of the students. One such occasion came to fruition on February 7 as Gaines Nolin received an invitation to sing the National Anthem for the Alabama Farmers Cooperative annual board members meeting in Montgomery, Alabama. The invitation serves as a highlight for both programs at Tallassee High School. Gaines is the Tallassee FFA Secretary, as well as a member of the Tallassee Pride Marching Band, Gold Edition Show Choir, Voltage Men’s Choir, and various other avenues of band and choir.
Tallassee High School has a rich tradition of these two programs cooperating and succeeding spanning over several generations. Names such as Brock Nolin and Jerry Cunningham were critical components of this teamwork and making it into what it has continued to be under the leadership of Michael Bird, Kelly Hill, and Daniel Free. This year marks Jerry Cunningham’s 50th anniversary with the Tallassee FFA Quartet. Furthermore, Jerry has served this role faithfully and enthusiastically each year and has made our school a statewide name in the quartet competition. The FFA Quartet has sang at numerous Alabama State Department of Education board meetings as well as countless additional church and local community gatherings. Brock Nolin began the Tallassee FFA String Band early in his teaching career at Tallassee High School and successfully made it into an avenue where FFA members could showcase their musical talent. Both models serve as men willing to do whatever they have to do to get students involved. This is the same mentality that our programs continue to emphasize each day. As the Agricultural teacher and FFA Advisor at Tallassee High School, I am immensely thankful for these men who were before me, as well as my current colleagues. It is a privilege to work in a school that prioritizes the success of individual students, where each student truly matters, and where faculty members are in place who will do whatever they can, stretching themselves as far as they can stretch, to give each student an opportunity to succeed. #togetherwecan
-- Dr. Daniel Free, THS Ag Dept.