NORMANDY, MO -- In the age of COVID-19, school districts nationwide have been looking for ways to celebrate the accomplishments of the Class of 2020.
With school closures, and the postponement or subsequent cancellations of traditional senior year celebrations like prom and graduations, parents, staff and community members have looked for creative ways to ensure seniors are still recognized for their accomplishments.
LaTricia Clark, an instructional coach with the Normandy Schools Collaborative, tapped into her network to see how she could help honor graduating seniors at Normandy High School.
“I reached out to Matt Gamache (with DDI Media) to see if they would be willing to donate billboard space to a school or two in the region,” Clark explained. “I asked if we could add on a few more schools and they were gracious enough to share their space with nine (schools). We were absolutely blown away!”
Clark then reached out to the neighboring districts to collect the names and photos of seniors. She worked with Teri Green, Normandy Director of IT, to program the information so that DDI Media would be able to upload and post the student photos to their system.
The billboards are placed throughout St. Louis County and feature seniors from the following school districts: Normandy, Ritenour, Maplewood-Richmond Heights, Hazelwood, Jennings, University City, Ferguson-Florissant, Riverview Gardens, and St. Louis Public. The digital billboards celebrating the Class of 2020 went live May 18 and will continue through June 8.
“This is a great example of how the business community can come alongside our schools to support students and thank DDI Media for their generosity,” said Marcus C. Robinson, newly appointed Normandy Superintendent of Schools. “As we look to move our district to the next level, we look forward to collaborating with our neighboring districts and business partners to support student success.”
The digital billboards are at the following locations:
- I-70 near the Airport Exit (eastbound)
- I-170 & St. Charles Rock Road (southbound)
- I-44 & Big Bend (westbound)
- I-270 & McDonnell Blvd. (facing west)
- I-270 & McDonnell Blvd. (facing east)
Normandy would like to thank the following for their contributions on this project:
DDI Media Team Members
Matt Gamache
John Scott
Marjorie Baynes
Interdistrict Team Collaborators
- Dr. Farhad Jadali
- Dr. Charles Pearson & Marcus Robinson
- Kelvin Adams
- Michelle Mueller
- Dave McCorkle
- Dr. Bruce Green
- Dr. Art McCoy
- Dr. Rhonda Key
- Ms. Crystal Gale
- Mr. Carl Mitchell
- Dr. Teri Green
- Dr. Vanessa Meads
- Nancy Cambria
- Dr. Joesph Davis
- Dr. Nettie Colins-HArt
- Phil Hunt
- Ed Rich
- Carolann Coleman
- Karen Hall
- Traci Nave
- Dr. Sharonica Hardin
- Kevin Hampton
- Kimberly McKenzie
- Patrick Chan
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CAPTION: Normandy High School Senior Miyaa Hill is one of several local members of the Class of 2020 featured on area DDI Media billboards. DDI donated the billboard space to help recognize local graduating seniors in nine school districts.
