The Savannah-Chatham County Public School System District held the first presentation in the inaugural Passport to Excellence Lecture Series presented by the gold sponsor, JCB North America.

The series features presentations from accomplished individuals who previously attended or graduated from SCCPSS, sharing their unique career journeys and the insights they have learned about success and how to achieve it.

Stratton Leopold was the first presenter at Savannah Arts Academy. He teleconferenced in from Paramount Pictures in Hollywood.

Leopold attended elementary school at Massie Heritage Center, and then went on to attend Chatham Jr. High. Several years later, he studied Pre-Med at Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt Universities, but ultimately chose to work his way into the film industry.

He has now been in the film business for more than 40 years, producing major, large-budget motion pictures. He has nearly 60 film and television credits to his name ranging from executive producer and producer to casting director and actor. Leopold has also served as an Executive Vice President at Paramount Pictures. He is locally famous for Leopold’s Ice Cream on Broughton Street, which was founded in 1919 by his father, Peter Leopold and his uncles Georgia and Basil.

The next lecture is taking place from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, October 29 at Savannah High School, located at 400 Pennsylvania Avenue, and will feature a presentation from Dawn Baker. Baker graduated with honors from Savannah High School. Baker went on to earn her Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism from Howard University in Washington, D.C. Baker now co-anchors WTOC’s The News at 5:30 and THE News at 11:00. Baker is also a published author from her book, “Dawn’s Daughter: Everything A Woman Needs To Know.” 20% of all of the proceeds from her book go to “The Dawning of a Miracle Scholarship,” a fund Baker created to help young ladies with chronic and/or life-threatening illnesses go to college.

These presentations are free but you must make a reservation to attend. To RSVP please contact Cynthia Wright at [email protected] or 912.856.9075.

The Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Lockamy and three “Public School Patriots,” SCCPSS district’s nominated recent graduates, will co-emcee the panel interviews of each speaker. At the end of the Passport to Excellence Series, the three speakers will be honored at the February 2016 Teacher of the Year Banquet with the Passport to Excellence Awards of Distinction.