Dr. Jennifer Garrison, Superintendent, Vandalia CUSD #203

Several years ago, Vandalia School and community leaders came together to launch an initiative called Vandalia ONE. The idea was to honor and promote the shared priorities of those who make Vandalia their home— safety, economic opportunity, learning, and leveraging the strengths inherent in our differences. At the heart of this idea stands the notion that together we’re better. I believe that.

Our community has been through a lot since the Vandalia ONE committee first convened in late 2018 and, candidly, those things that broke our hearts, demanded our attention, or made for difficult conversations also called us together to be better for one another, to find some way to heal, and to move forward through our challenges. I grew up here. I know the heart and the grit of our community, and when we say we are #vandalstrong, we mean it.

My belief in the ‘better together’ mindset is so strong, that I wanted to expand the discussion of the possibilities and positivity of Vandalia ONE across our entire district. That’s why we’ve chosen to share the collective richness of the exceptional Vandalia story through our partnership with Journey12. We’ll be doing this throughout this school year through this quarterly magazine, delivered to every district address, a triennial direct mail and digital message featuring Vandalia ONE updates, a monthly podcast introducing ideas and the people behind them from within our school community, and more.

My hope is that you will enjoy learning more about the accomplishments of our young people, the backstories of some of our faculty and staff, and the interesting roads taken by our VCHS alumni.

This is our school, our community, and it is my sincere hope that you will join me in finding ways to share your time and talents to help us make both just a little bit better.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jennifer Garrison