SUPT. BEN WILLIAMS joins Mayor Sollars, others during annual State of the City

Supt. Ben Williams was a special guest speaker during Mayor Rick Sollars annual State of the City Address Thursday afternoon at the Heinz Prechter Educational & Performing Arts Center on the Downriver campus of Wayne County Community College.

Supt. Williams (second from left in the photo) was joined on the stage by Wayne County Executive Warren Evans (left), Mayor Sollars and Larry Wright of the Rotary Club of Taylor. WC Executive Evans introduced the mayor's speech, and took time to discuss the issues that he overcame at the county level.

The program was a unique gathering of several different layers of today's Taylor, and all represented the event's theme of "Good to Great."

Supt. Williams discussed the Taylor School District's newest initiatives that will begin this fall, including the all-new Taylor High School; the "wall-to-wall academies" concept; and advanced placement classes and college partnerships. He emphasized the mission of creating more focused curriculum at the high school level, the type that not only sets up the student for greatest career success, but where students with similar goals and aspirations would share the same classrooms.

For more about the school's new programs, click here

Wright, a longtime Rotarian, is leading the organization's new Launch Taylor concept, which offers mentoring and funding to small entrepreneurs in somewhat of an incubator setting. Launch Detroit, a similar venture, has had much success. Wright and the Rotary Club of Taylor are bringing the concept to the community.

For more about Launch Taylor, click here

Mayor's Sollars keynote address had a heavy focus on the City's new "Good to Great Neighborhoods Program," which will be launching this year. The program will focus on improving specific areas, or neighborhoods, in the community. The City will target an area and send in teams from literally every department of the City, focusing on improvements and interaction. The improvements may come in concrete repairs or tree trimming, ordinance issues or crime problems.

More on the program will be announced later this spring.

For a quick look, see the first item in Outlook 2018 in the December Taylor Today (click here)