GMSD Kickoff Celebrates the People Behind the School Year & Creates Peak Moments

By Kate Crowder

Before students returned to classrooms for the 2026-27 school year, GMSD employees had a chance to do something important themselves. Celebrate!

The annual GMSD Kickoff Celebration began with the district’s largest teacher appreciation vendor fair to date. More than 35 community partners filled the Houston High School lobby and gym, giving away everything from coffee, snacks and gift cards to shoes, B12 shots and even new mattresses.

Around 8 a.m., employees began making their way into the auditorium, where Memphis band The Soul Shockers welcomed them with an early morning dance party before Superintendent Jason Manuel took the stage.

Manuel’s message for the year centered on creating memorable experiences for students and families. Inspired by Chip and Dan Heath’s The Power of Moments and, perhaps, a recent family vacation to a certain house of the mouse, he challenged employees to think about the everyday interactions that shape how families experience GMSD.

Not every memorable moment requires a grand gesture. Sometimes it is a warm welcome, an unexpected kindness or simply recognizing an opportunity to make someone’s day a little better. Those small interactions add up to the experience students and families have in GMSD schools.

Of course, this was the GMSD Kickoff, so things did not stay quiet for long.

The annual Landers Ford Collierville Game Show returned with Manuel behind the microphone and employees competing in a series of wonderfully ridiculous challenges. Contestants popped hundreds of balloons, listened carefully to some unusual radio conversations and worked together to build giant puzzles on swinging boards.

On the line were vacuum cleaners, Ninja Slushi makers, televisions, Solo Stoves, outdoor grills, family memberships to the Memphis Zoo and plenty of other prizes.

There is some thought behind what makes the prize table each year. The guiding question is simple. What is something a teacher or school staff  would really enjoy but might never buy for themselves?

Teachers and staff give a great deal of their time and talent to their students throughout the year. Sometimes, they even reach into their own pockets to add an extra touch to a lesson, classroom or student experience. Through a partnership that has now spanned more than a decade, Landers Ford Collierville helps GMSD turn the attention back to employees for a morning and celebrate them as people.

The Germantown Education Foundation added an even bigger incentive with a $2,500 grand prize, and Kent Ritchey announced another surprise during the celebration with plans to recognize and reward GMSD’s 2026 Teachers of the Year.

The morning wrapped up with another longtime Kickoff favorite, the annual school spirit competition. Schools brought skits, lip-sync performances and plenty of creativity to the stage while competing for teacher morale/staff lounge makeover prizes from Landers Ford Collierville. This year, many of the performances shared a common thread of togetherness, with schools finding ways to celebrate not only their own teams but one another.

Kickoff came at the end of several days of preparation that included curriculum training, professional learning communities and annual safety training led by the Germantown Police Department. There is plenty of serious work that goes into getting ready for a new school year, which may be exactly why GMSD makes room for a little ridiculous fun along the way.

For one morning, the people who spend the school year making students feel special got to be on the receiving end.