About 80 people heard a rundown of Franklin Special District’s biggest achievements from the past year during a FrankTalks discussion on Monday, May 12.

Highlights included the launch of the district’s Introduction to Aerospace course for eighth-grade students, the district’s rebranding and the opening of its new central office earlier this year.

The event took place at FSD’s new office at 205 Eddy Lane. FrankTalks is a monthly discussion series hosted by Franklin Tomorrow to spread awareness of issues affecting the community.

New buildings and brands

Dr. David Esslinger, associate director of schools for finance and administration, described the process of planning and constructing the office and the facilities and transportation building next door.

“We bought five acres and renovated the old steel building for the FTC building,” he said. “Our vision was to create a space where all district-level staff could work in one complex.”

The benefits included freeing up space at Freedom Middle School and other locations across Franklin where FSD staff previously worked. Workplace satisfaction has also improved in one major way since the new office opened in January, Esslinger said.

“Each office has access to direct sunlight,” he said. “This is a building that was designed to serve FSD for many years to come, and I’m very proud of it.”

Director of Schools David Snowden also discussed the district’s rebranding from Franklin Special School District to Franklin Special District last August. 

The idea was born during a staff retreat during the 2022-2023 school year, and the district worked with BrandMETTLE advertising firm to plan the district’s new name, logo and message.

“It was very forward-thinking,” Snowden said. “Even though the brand was not bad.”

During focus groups and a brand-scape analysis, administration decided to scrap the word “Special” from its advertising and signage due to confusion from the public over the word’s meaning. 

Administration also decided on the mottos “Students First. Excellence Always. No Exceptions,”  and “Excellence has its own district” as a way to demonstrate FSD’s core values, Snowden said. 

Although the district’s legal name remains Franklin Special School District, the new message has increased recognition of the district across Williamson County and beyond.

“We feel it’s a modern identity that we now have,” he said. “We’re very excited about the direction we’re going.”

Aerospace course going well

Dr. Mary Decker, associate director of schools for teaching and learning, described the new Introduction to Aerospace program that launched at Freedom and Poplar Grove middle schools this school year.

The program uses Redbird Jay Velocity flight simulators and lessons crafted from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association High School STEM Aviation Curriculum to teach the basics of navigation and flight patterns. 

The program is a springboard to Williamson County Schools’ high school aviation program and possible careers as pilots, airplane technicians and flight attendants, among others, Decker said. 

She added that students have taken to the course “beyond our wildest dreams” and credited a state Innovative School Models grant for making it possible.

“It was a team effort in getting this program off the ground, pun intended,” she said.

Decker also praised FSD’s Coordinated Creators entrepreneurship program, which is sending five teams of middle school students to the national Invention Convention at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, in June.

Coordinated Creators teams pitch ideas for new products to community leaders and then present the finished products in local and state competitions. Several teams’ presentations were on display during FrankTalks, including Frosthelete athletic gloves with attached sleeves, and the Hydrowheel, a wheelbarrow that waters crops as it moves.

Susan Lane, who attended the discussion with her husband, sent her two children to FSD schools in the 1980s, and has two grandchildren in the district now. She enjoyed hearing about how far the district has come.

“It was very interesting and inspiring, especially the new aerospace program,” she said.