Leader 2 Leader

Where can you find the best teachers? By Jayne Ellspermann The best teachers are right in front of us! Several years ago, the school where I was principal was struggling to find teachers, especially in hard to fill positions like math, science, and special education.  We had a building full of bright students who we were doing a great job preparing for countless professions. Teaching was not one of them. Teachers are often the first profession students encounter and see in action.  When you ask students in elementary school what they want to be when they grow up many of them will tell you they want to be a teacher.  Years go by and those same students move on to different careers, often because we do such a great job in our schools of promoting other careers. Every day I saw potential teachers in our classrooms, and knew with a few changes we could create an outstanding teaching force with the students in our school.  There were things we nee...

Joseph B. Harrell Northwest Region Director, Florida Support Administrators Association (FSAA) Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services, Santa Rosa School District Santa Rosa School District provides students with a high-quality education and our students consistently lead the State of Florida in academic achievement. Indeed, the mission of our school district, Educate students for success by providing a superior, relevant education, drives our daily instruction in the classroom as we strive to prepare our students for a bright and prosperous future. With this mission in mind, Santa Rosa School District is currently in Year 1 of our Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics STEAM Innovate Program, a 5 year transformation and partnership with Discovery Education, a division of the globally recognized Discovery Communications. Research consistently demonstrates that STEAM education dramatically increases student achievement, literally eliminating achi...