Updated Nov. 15, 2023 at 7:33 p.m.
ADDISON, Ala. – Addison High School is a small school in a small town in Winston County, Alabama but this little school has big dreams and lofty expectations for itself and its students. Addison High School Principal Micah Smothers was recently informed that Addison High had been named, for the second time (the first time being in 2018), a Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence Lighthouse School for 2023.
The Lighthouse category is the top tier award given by the national nonprofit Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence. Schools are judged every five years and scored in nine categories; each school must score at least 80% in seven out of nine categories. Addison scored at or above 90% in seven and scored at least 80% in the other two. Addison High School is one of only 50 high schools nationwide, and the only high school in Winston County, to achieve the Lighthouse standard for 2023.
The categories are student focus and support, school organization and culture, challenging standards and curriculum, active teaching and learning, technology integration, professional community, leadership and educational vitality, community partnerships and indicators of success.
“Blue Ribbon’s evaluators came and gave a pretty lengthy questionnaire for our staff, parents and students to fill out. We had a tremendous response from all three subgroups. Naturally, our staff return rate was 100%, while students were 93% and, most surprising, our parents had a 55% return rate. The parental rate I am extremely proud of, but I shouldn’t have been surprised due to the fact that unlike most schools we have wonderful parental involvement,” Smothers said. “At Addison we strive to provide a family atmosphere. My door is always open to our staff and students. I pride myself in knowing all my students and either their parent or parents or a grandparent of each child. I have about 35% of my parents’ phone numbers in my cell phone.”
Smothers continued, “At Addison we try and have our students involved with one another to promote this atmosphere. Our kids really help one another in class. If one child is struggling another child who might catch on a bit faster will usually help the other child. I feel like this really helps our kids learn because most kids may understand a bit better hearing it explained by a peer as well as the teacher. I know that the evaluators came away impressed with our school family. We aren’t perfect and there are some things that we can certainly improve on, but overall, I believe that we provide our students with a safe and healthy environment that is conducive to learning.”
Smothers has been working in education for 33 years and has been principal at Addison High for the past 14 years. His philosophy during that time has remained the same.
“My philosophy is plain and simple: help people,” Smothers said. “I got that from my father. When a new student arrives, I will sit them down and speak with them and their parents. I will then pair them with a current student in the same grade and with similar interests. I then have that student escort the new student around showing them the ropes, so to speak, at Addison.”
Smothers credited the school’s success in education to all the work put in by the faculty and support staff and said he’s proud of the way they have helped change their students’ lives.
“I am so proud of our staff. Currently 90-95% of our teachers have graduated from Addison High. Most schools have to go looking for new teachers; I don’t have that problem as the teachers come to us and the vast majority are from our community, and I consider that a blessing,” he said. “I am just so very proud to be a two-time recipient of the Lighthouse Blue Ribbon Award. This award is 100% because of our amazing students, faculty and parents. I can’t stress enough that this all starts with our students’ parents and the wonderful parental involvement we have here at Addison.”
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