As 2014 draws to a close, it is hard not to sit back and reflect on what a great year this has been for Dickinson ISD and our students and staff. We have been reminded in a number of ways of the great support we have from our community.
 

While Dickinson ISD is a growing community, we still have a small-town atmosphere where the school district is a central part of the community. People still know each other by name and community members who do not have children or grandchildren in school still come to football games or other events to support the Gators.
 

This year we have had an outpouring of community support which has reminded us of how good it is to be a part of the Dickinson ISD community.
 

Because of our tremendous student growth, we have had to come to voters four times in the past 15 years to ask them to support us by approving bond referendums for new and renovated schools. Each time, voters have overwhelmingly supported our efforts and in turn approved spending approximately $300 million to provide the facilities needed to teach more students as well as the resources needed in those facilities to make our students college and career ready.
 

In May, we came to voters with the most recent of the four bond issues -- $56 million to build two new campuses. The community's answer was an overwhelming yes and now we are starting construction on the Lobit Education Village which will provide Louis G. Lobit Elementary and Elva C. Lobit Middle School on the west side of FM 517.
 

Not only is the Dickinson community supporting us with our facility needs, it has been exciting to see the community supporting our students as they represent our district across the state in extracurricular activities.
 

The Dickinson High School Gator Marching Band started off the year with superb halftime performances of their show, "Arabian Nights." They scored fourth place and sixth place finishes at the Friendswood and Galena Park Marching Band Festivals and received straight "1" ratings at Region and Area UIL contests. They were one of only seven bands out of 36 from our area that earned the honor of competing at the UIL 6A State Marching Competition in San Antonio last month. The afternoon the band left for San Antonio, the entire DHS student body filled Baker Drive outside the school and hundreds of well-wishers lined FM 517 from DHS to I-45 to cheer on the students and directors.
 

Good luck messages filled business marquees throughout the community. Representatives from the City of Dickinson, Water District #1, Bayou Realtors and True Cross Catholic School were just some of supporters out along the way. The Dickinson ISD Education Support Center, the DISD Technology Department, the Gator Academy employee daycare, band parents and community members were also out along the bus route leaving Dickinson.
 

During this same time, the community also came together to cheer on the Gators Varsity Football Team on their phenomenal 13-1 season. They surprised the opposing teams as well as others across the state with the huge amount of Gator fans traveling to away games and playoff games in Houston to cheer on the Gators. An estimated 7,500-7,800 fans filled the Gator side at both the third and fourth round playoff games at Rice University and the University of Houston. The sea of blue was truly a wonderful sight to see at the games and a true encouragement to our athletes.
 

We had calls of support from DHS graduates and former athletes and people traveling from out-of-town just to come to the games. Supporters organized send-offs for the team along FM 517 even over the Thanksgiving holidays and were back at the Field House when the team returned from their first loss to lift them up and encourage them.
 

We can't thank the community enough for the trust and support you have given to our district and we look forward to all the great things that 2015 has in store for Dickinson ISD and our community.

Go Gators!