CRANBERRY TWP — “More” seems to be the mantra for Seneca Valley this school year.

At a welcome-back summit for district staff Friday at Victory Family Church, teachers were reminded they are judged by more than Keystone Exam scores, that students often are more than meets the eye and that, no matter what, there’s always more for which to strive.

“Just about everything that touches our lives is more than what it seems on the surface,” Superintendent Tracy Vitale said, comparing people to icebergs and Russian nesting dolls.

“Seneca Valley School District, and the people who comprise it, are no different. I am more, you are more and we are more. And so are the students whose lives we touch every day.”

That theme was extended when teachers took the stage. “Remind your friends that we are more than teachers of content,” Paolo Tolomeo, a fourth-grade teacher at Haine Elementary School, said. “We are teachers of children. We are mentors in confidence. We are inspiring our students to be the best versions of themselves.”

Tolomeo was nominated for 2020 Pennsylvania teacher of the year.

District teachers could also draw on the message promulgated by Scott Burrows, the event’s keynote speaker. Burrows was a collegiate athlete before he became paralyzed from the waist down in a 1984 car accident and was told he would never walk again.

He told the audience about his recovery during a six-month hospital stay, comparing his attempts to use his hands to everyday life.

“If you can adapt to be more flexible given a new set of circumstances, you can always change the direction and the outcome of your life,” he said.

Burrows analogized his real paralysis to the fear of failure. Using a golf club as a cane, Burrows stood from his wheelchair and took several steps on the stage.

“How many of you are ready to get out of your chairs, so to speak?” he asked.

Following Burrows’ presentation, Vitale took the stage again, using Burrows’ speech to convey what she sees as the ability of Seneca teachers, both individually and collectively.

“I’m looking forward to another year of seeing examples of how we are more,” she said.