Columbia Public Schools employees gather to celebrate the start of school year next week

Education unites the community and Columbia Public Schools is a major factor in that, Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe on Tuesday said to her audience of around 3,000 in Mizzou Arena.

"In Columbia, we love public education," Buffaloe said. "You're helping us to achieve our vision of making Columbia a place where everyone can live, work and play."

The mother of two CPS students, Buffaloe said she asked her daughter what she should say.

"Please tell them 'thank you' and we know they're underpaid," Buffaloe said. "She's 12."

The school year starts Aug. 22.

The mayor was one of several speakers Tuesday for what CPS dubbed as its convocation. All of the school district's employees gathered for the event. It has been more than 20 years since the school district held one. The district's employment outgrew all its buildings that could contain all its employees.

"We got too big," said CPS spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark.

The last time was 24 years ago, in 1999.

"We're really grateful Mizzou Arena was available to us to help make this possible and in support of CPS," Baumstark said.

There was a keynote speaker, Stephen Covey, who talked about inspiration and leadership.

"We need a new way to lead," Covey said. "I put it this way; what got us here won't get us there."

Manage things, but lead people, he said.

He talked of the wildflowers that bloom in Death Valley, California, when it rains.

"The seeds were always there," Covey said. "They just needed the right conditions to grow."

The school district is striving for better student attendance, improved academic performance and improved behavior, said Columbia Board of Education President Suzette Waters.

"We will show everyone around us that public school not only works, but it is the only way for all of us to thrive," Waters said.

There were moments of cuteness with CPS students on the stage.

The crowd was roused by a talk from Hickman High School senior Saathvik Kannan. In May, he won a $50,000 Regeneron Young Scientist Award.

Cheers broke out in different part of the arena as he mentioned teachers who benefited him at different grade levels and different schools.

"Each of my teachers wrote a chapter in my story," Saathvik said.

He called teachers "our real-world superheroes."

"You raise our future change-makers and problem-solvers," Saathvik said

He told the CPS employees about Nobel Prize winner Frederick Robbins, who made a culture of the polio virus, leading to a vaccine.

"He walked the same halls I do at Hickman High School," Saathvik said.

Teachers may question whether what they are doing is worthwhile, he said. He said he couldn't answer for them.

"The world cannot function without you," he said. "You mean the world to us."

He received the only standing ovation.

Noah Potraz, a senior at MU from Oceanside, California, will be doing his student teaching at Parkade Elementary School.

He's glad he was able to participate in the first convocation in more than 20 years, he said outside the event.

"CPS had definitely been a massive support structure for me and my peers," Potraz said.

Julia Hickox is a fifth-grade teacher at Cedar Ridge Elementary School. She's starting her sixth year as a teacher.

"I'm always excited for the new school year," Hickox said outside the event. "It's a fresh start. I get to meet the kids and get it rolling."

Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Nearly 3,000 CPS employees gathered to be inspired at Mizzou Arena