001I'm abc15 zetti live here in front of Brunson Lee Elementary part of the balt School District in just a few hours behind me here more than 400 kids are going to be heading into this school for the first time since May we know chomping at the bit eager to go to start a brand new school year well at abc5 we think it's always important to follow up especially with our community leaders so today we thought was the perfect chance to Circle back with the district superintendent Dr George Barnes I had the chance to actually sit down with him back in 2022 at the time he was only on the job for a few months but we talked about some of his ambitious goals for the district and he really wanted to set expectations high for
002not just the staff here but also the students listen life uh and the obstacles that are against them our students want somebody to look at them and say you are great you will achieve greatness just keep at it I'm here for you and I'm refusing to give up on them um because they deserve the opportunities all right that was Dr George Barnes there in our 2022 interview and what do you know Dr Barnes is joining us live here this morning thank you for being with us I appreciate it yes of course of course nice and early we know it's a busy day for you I know you plenty of caffeine in you too I'm ready to go ready to go you're going to need but you listen to that sound bite there from your interview
003when you and I talked two years ago and I know for you it was all about motivating the kids and knowing that someone was there for them do you think you were able to achieve that in the past 2 years 100% I think our governing board really leaned in they made sure we had the right people on the bus they made sure that uh our community knew that we were here to stay and we were here to support them and we're going to be the epicenter of change and to see parents to see community members to see Neighbors you know abc5 find folks from across the street all over the place love all these kids the way we've been loving all these kids our kids feel like they're Superstars rock stars and they have fans
004behind them and they're ready to rock yeah you know what and that encouragement that love Barnes we know goes such a long way and you're right we are neighbors this is our school district at abc5 all right I'm going to put you on the spot real quick let me ask you this a tough question that I'm bringing to an educator here all right Y what do you think the last two years have taught you what have you learned do you think you know I don't think it taught me anything new but it reemphasized the fact that um as a people we're tenacious we don't give up we don't give in with the right spirit with the right energy with the right cheerleader with the right coach we're able to overcome a lot of things and
005sometimes we have to spark that fire in our in our kids in each other but once we get going once we get ignited it's amazing what we can do yeah you know you I know you coached before that's I feel like this is those coaching routs have really came in handy Dr Barnes I appreciate it okay we're going to check back in with you at 6:30 we appreciate you and what you do in this community like I said at abc15 we think it's important to follow up with all of our community leaders so thank you Dr Barnes I appreciate that hey at 5:45 like I said we're going to celebrate are hardworking cafeteria workers who make sure they're feeding these kids breakfast and lunch every single school day they do it with a big smile
006and a whole lot of love that's coming up at 5:45 how could they not right with that energy that was the pep talk everyone needs for the first day of school he's awesome yes he is he's good right incredible incredible thank you it's 542