“We are Pattonville Strong.”

Those are the carefully chosen words of the ever-stringent Mrs. Odetta Smith (but many students might know her better as Ms. Odetta Fields.)

Smith is one of the two new administrators at the high school this year, but this isn’t her first year at Pattonville at all. Smith was an English teacher at Pattonville for five years before deciding to make the switch into administration.

Smith originally went to ­college at Harvard University to be a violin major, but said “to be a violin major, you have to spend a lot of time by yourself practicing, and I didn’t want to do that for the rest of my life; so I thought back to what I enjoyed most in high school and it was English.”

Before she ever taught at Pattonville, she was the “Head of School” at a school in the city called Freedom School. She enjoyed playing a large part in running the school, so when she found out that the position for administration was open at Pattonville, she decided to attempt it again.

Smith considers herself a strong advocate of Pattonville High School as a whole, so it’s no surprise she wanted to play a larger part in the organization.

She said she believes that Pattonville is one of the best public schools in the area because of its focus on social justice, teacher-to-student relationships, and diversity. She also said, “Diversity doesn’t matter unless we commit to treating each other fairly.”

Smith has been an English teacher at two other schools, and when asked if Pattonville was her favorite (which is a poor word choice when talking to an English teacher), she responded carefully saying that Pattonville isn’t her “favorite” but she could say that she has definitely felt more at home at Pattonville than anywhere else.

Smith, who was married over the summer, wants everyone to know she does not care if students still want to call her Ms. Fields, and implores the entire school to appreciate Pattonville and what they do for all of the students.

She added that students have more advantages than the majority of kids across the country in public schools and wants students to appreciate the opportunities they have.