Standing on the staircase, Superintendent Dr. Jonathan Crossley said a few words to staff and citizens: "We wanted to make this more of a pot luck community style affair. We are a community school; we have 2,300 students that we serve, bussing them everyday, making sure bills get paid, making sure special education services get done correctly and in order. I love our team and I love who we have in this district," Crossley said.

Retired Teacher Bonnie Raff then took to the stairwell and talked National Literacy Day, "This is National Family Literacy Day. Literacy is a family and a village problem when it comes to illiteracy. First, I will tell you is the ability to read and write  It is the single most important factor in determining a person's career arc. For those who can read and write the possibilities of jobs is vast. High paying careers are in reach. For those who cannot, options are extremely limited. Even unskilled minimum wage jobs are hard to find," Moss said. She went on to share statistics in the United States of illiteracy and said, "Arkansas is at 86 percent." 

Executive Director of the Hope Hempstead County Chamber of Commerce, Christy Burns said, "I am always proud of our school district here in Hope and all they do within our community, especially for our children," Burns said.