Dallas ISD Superintendent Michael Hinojosa addressed a large crowd at the Fairmont Hotel's Regency Ballroom in his annual State of the District speech.
The lunch highlights the work being done in the district and the plan for moving forward through the year.
The district modeled the event after similar celebrations in other large urban districts and in previous years shrugged off concerns of costs by showing the flowers, music, and even part of the food provided by students working in the district, as well as sponsors who help foot the bill.
Teachers said the event really energized them to push forward and work harder after such a trying year.
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"After everything we went through, we need to be together and remind each other we are in this together," said John J. Pershing Elementary teacher, Jose Armendariz.
Hinojosa talked this year about DISD's need to be bold and its focus on building a premier urban district.
He highlighted the P-Tech program, which prepares students to earn credit hours toward a degree and puts them on the pathway to a job. Hinojosa calls it one of his biggest accomplishments while serving.
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Despite the celebration, the district faces significant challenges in performance losses. Hinojosa said it's not going to be fixed overnight and they will need a long-term leader to help solve the problem. He pointed out that DISD's scores were better than other large urban districts.
The presentation today seemed to show that the district aims to continue to be bold even without its most gregarious leader at the helm.
"I think the videos we saw today showed that our boldness is in all of us, and sometimes we don't even see it," said student Kendall Stafford.
Hinojosa said the students of today will be a workforce of excellence demanding a better bolder city and he believes it will happen in the next ten years.
The retiring superintendent didn't offer any more information about his possible run for mayor.
