LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A teacher and basketball coach at the Academy @ Shawnee in west Louisville is being praised for using social media to post a simple plea.

Norman Ellis said his high school and its students are more than the headlines about fights and weapons found on campus. He wants the community to learn a new narrative.

It started with a post: "My coaching staff, my kids, and I know and understand what we are up against everyday and every game. We are Changing The Narrative down here; it is not easy and it is a challenge everyday." Ellis wrote that "it’s time that we change the way they see us." It went on to get 300 shares.

"Ever since I got down here six years ago, you always hear that bad stigma about Shawnee," Ellis said. "It's like a bad stain, when someone says Shawnee High School, and I wanted to change the narrative because it's a lot of great things that go on here."

Ellis is also a social studies teacher for middle and high school students, and beams when he talks about them.

"It's amazing coming into the building everyday being able to see these kids' faces, giving back. That's the real reason for what I do," he said.

Shawnee is the only school in Louisville to offer an aviation program. Its boy's basketball team welcomed a winning season of 11-7, and for the first time in the school's history, the girl's basketball team made it to the All-A State Championship. It was the first public school to win the All-A Sixth Region.

The school just unveiled its new gym floor in the fall, and the boy's basketball team is filled with pride in their new warm-up suits. That new athletic wear was made possible by a $20 million donation by philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, to Jefferson County Public Schools to improve schools in Louisville's west end.

The girl's basketball team also won their first All-A Basketball Tournament in the history of Shawnee, and it is the first public school to win the All-A Region Girls.

"The stigma that haunts Shawnee has to stop! Instead of talking about the problem, let’s find a solution to the problem," Ellis wrote in his post. "Don’t just talk about it, we have to be about it! Like I tell my kids every day, 'Focus on the solution not on the problem.'"

His bottom line? Change the narrative, and control what you can control.

"Our motto is 'Control what you can control,' and what we can control is being who we are, being great guys within the world, great guys within the school, and outside in the community," he said.

More Education Stories:

Copyright 2024 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.