Patty Miller
EDMOND — Cheyenne Middle School was recognized Monday as a 2009 Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education.
The school’s students and faculty were joined by members of the district’s administration in the celebration of their award.
Eight Edmond schools have already achieved the title. The schools include: Memorial and North high schools, all of the middle schools including Central, Cimarron, Sequoyah and Summit; and Northern Hills and Russell Dougherty elementary schools.
Cheyenne is one of 314 schools in the nation named as a 2009 Blue Ribbon School.
Debbie Bendick, former Cheyenne principal, told students Cheyenne led the state in middle school API scores by placing in the top five for the past five years.
“It has been our students who have carried the burden to prove once again that Cheyenne really means its mission of ‘High levels of learning for all,’” Bendick said.
Bendick gave credit for Cheyenne’s successes to the students, teachers, parents, district and community leaders. Included in the list were assistant principals Kacy Harsha and Tom Higdon.
Bendick is now principal at Memorial High School, Harsha is assistant principal at Sequoyah Middle School and Higdon remains at Cheyenne.
“All of the honors and accolades belong to all of us as we worked together, collaborating to be the best,” Bendick said.
Cheyenne long has been associated with its Native American heritage.
“Among the Cheyenne there are no orphans,” Bendick said. “When I repeat the native saying I am saying that none of us works alone. Whether it is our API, our athletic victories or our arts creations, it was never one of us alone who deserved the credit, but all of us working together as a community of learners.”
Bendick thanked the audience for the impact they had on her life and for the leader they taught her to be.
“This is a place of superior learning and growth,” Superintendent David Goin told the students.
Once known as the Cheyenne Outpost because of its location in north Edmond, Cheyenne started in pre-fabricated buildings on Sequoyah’s campus.
Nine core teachers, one counselor, one secretary and a few elective teachers who traveled to other schools joined Bendick, the school’s first principal, to teach 212 very flexible, resilient sixth-grade students, said former teacher Jill Rumbaugh.
“The school began in humble beginnings,” Rumbaugh said, “but there were two constants — leadership and dedicated teachers and staff.
“At times it was difficult because we were pushed outside of our comfort zones,” Rumbaugh said.
Former student Tanner Chance told the students the skills they learn at Cheyenne will help them as they make up the face of the future.
“We are a family and a community of learning, and we are the best,” Principal Susie Schinnerer told the audience.
