Keith Bryant New Superintendent Keith Bryant said teaching is like hiking a mountain.

At first the trail to the top is visible and easier to walk. But the higher on the trail one is to go, the more difficult the trail becomes.

Bryant introduced himself to the Bullard school employees at a district-wide meeting this week. He used an analogy of hiking a 14-thousand-foot mountain from his own life experiences.

"There was one point where we had to figure out where to put our hands and feet because the trail was so steep and rigid," he said. "And you began to think, Can we get to the top?"

Bryant laid out his vision and goals for the district as

the new leader of Bullard ISD. He said he wants everyone to apply excellence one student at a time.

"We want to move from mediocrity to excellence," Bryant said. "Not to say we are mediocre now… it's what we need to do on a day to day basis."

The goal he said is to raise the TASK scores in all areas. Although the test should not define a school, he said it is how the community, state and media holds the district accountable.

Photo by Jim Epperson Fourth grade teachers Kimmy Watkins (holding baseball), Angie Branner and Teresa Green received a baseball as part of Superintendent Keith Bryant's speech during a district-wide Bullard ISD meeting. As the district gets closer to its goal of excellence - just like a trail to the top of a mountain- the goal becomes more difficult to achieve.

"You get to the point where you can see the peak but you don't see the trail," he said. "You see your goals but not how you are going to get there."

Bryant said when the school reaches the top academically, the view is amazing. But how does one get to that point?

The answer is found in a baseball.

Baseballs are all the same, but what makes them difference? Once unraveled all baseballs have a rubber core.

"Every kid that walks through a Bullard ISD school door is the same because their heart and core is the same," he said.

"Some kids we may be the first adults they see since they were dropped off by the bus at home," he said. "Some kids may only hear 'I love you' from their teachers."

So what makes some baseballs different in value if their cores are the same? What makes some kids different if their core is the same?

What makes a Babe Ruth baseball $150,000 when the basebal in a kids bakcpack is almost worth nothing?

"The touch of a human makes the difference."

Just as Babe Ruth made a ball better by his autograph, teachers have to decide what autograph they are going to leave.

Will it be a joke? Will it be smudged? Will it be fake? Or will it be authentic?

"You'll have an opportunity to be sure your signature is authentic on a child's core," he said.

Then he passed a Bullard baseball to everyone in the room. He said a student is going to need their authentic autographs thisyear. One student in one of their classes is going to need a teacher's authentic and he encouraged them to do so.