Teacher of the Year 2013

 

We celebrated Guidance Counselor Betsy McCall, our 2013 Chets Creek Teacher of the Year today.  No school honors a teacher the way that Chets does!  We walked into the Media Center this morning to a lavish breakfast and to the amazing life-sized painting above by our Art teacher, Jen Snead.  It celebrates Betsy's love for God, music, the beach and peace..  Each grade level did a skit - a little irreverent (think roasting) that ended with kindergarten's moving tribute.

Betsy is our friend who never outgrew being a hippie,  who has had flashy pink  and orange streaks in her hair since she beat cancer!  Betsy loves to travel -we all live vicariously through her travels on airplanes, hand gliders, blimps - next up is a hot air balloon.  Bets has visited all 50 states. She even took her mom to Italy this past summer.  Betsy lives life in the moment.  She is a reminder to us all of how to love the life you're in!

More than that Betsy is a listener.  She has such a small ego that it seems nonexistent.  She is the steady, quiet truth that has always been at our Leadership table.  It is no wonder that so many of us trust her with our secrets and fears and turn to her in times of great pain and times of great joy.  We have closed her door and cried buckets of tears over our children and their circumstances as she has listened and shared our pain. 

Betsy will retire at the end of this year.  She has always been at Chets Creek - since the day it first opened its door.  I cannot imagine days at the Creek without her.  We have all grown to count on her and trust her and depend on her strength.  She will leave a gaping hole in our armour.  But we will continue to travel with her and the she will leave behind a legacy of caring and love...

Welcome Dr. Sowell!

Today teachers JJ Brown and Karen Meissner welcomed Dr. Scott Sowell to their kindergarten classroom.  Dr. Sowell was named Duval County's Teacher of the Year in February.   The Superintendent described Scott this way - "He has an amazing gift of connecting with his students, and his success is proven through his students' academic performance.  His students master science by doing science hands-on. Instead of starting out with a lecture explaining a topic, Dr. Sowell places the experience first so his students create their own learning by exploring real-life scientific situations. He develops a strong community of learners in his classroom, fostering a climate of collaboration, empathy and kindness where critical thinking and creative expression are valued and encouraged."

So how did a middle/ high school Science teacher end up in a kindergarten class today?  Lucky for us he has nieces at Chets Creek and one is a kindergartner in Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Meissner's class. They invited him in to do a Science lesson with these early learners.

So... if you're wondering how a high school Science teacher did in a kindergarten class, I think the pictures speak for themselves!  The children were totally engaged!

Dr. Sowell began by giving each child a mystery bag.  Inside the bag he had them take out their "tools" for the day - a magnifying glass and a straw!

Next the children took our meal worms and earthworms.  They counted the legs on the meal worms and decided that they looked a lot like the very hungry caterpillar!  Dr. Sowell entertained questions from the children but mostly pointed out how smart their observations were.  They FELT like scientists!

I don't know what was more fun - looking at the worms or watching the kindergartners looking at the worms!  I would say that this high school teacher can come and teach kindergarten Science any day he likes!  Thank you Dr. Sowell for being your niece's hero today and thoroughly entertained us all!  Come back soon!

Our Boy TOY

Chets Creek 2010 Teacher of the Year

5th Grade Math Teacher, Tom Ruark

I guess lots of schools across the country select their own Teacher of the Year, but I do think we have more fun with the process than most. On Thursday we "honored" our Boy TOY, Teacher of the Year Tom Ruark in a hilariously irreverent and tissue-crying celebration.

At our school the grade level of the Teacher of the Year, the Spirit Committee and the Media Center staff decorate the Media Center around a theme that is chosen especially for the selected teacher (check out that Mountain Dew can painted by our Art Department!) This year Tom and his family (wife Tracy is a 2nd grade teacher at our school and his daughter is a 5th grade student) entered the Media Center at the appointed time with the staff on each side of a green carpet clapping, yelling and holding up Mountain Dew cans - a Tom favorite. Then the lights were lowered as we were treated to an adorable slide show of Tom's life to music. He was such a cute baby! I think it meant even more to the faculty because Tracy, Tom's wife, is a 2nd grade teacher with us and his daughter is a 5th grader who has been with us for her entire school career. Tom's parents were also in attendance. The slide show began with adorable little Tom as a baby and toddler and moved through his long hair, mustached teen years, his marriage and birth of his daughters. I don't know why but even the funny parts of looking back bring tears to my eyes as I watch a child who has realized his dreams.

As the faculty begins to get in line for an outstanding buffet breakfast, each grade level comes forward to give a skit to represent the Teacher of the Year. Several of the grade levels presented their skits digitally but I hope you can tell from the pictures below how really funny this is!It is such fun to begin the day remembering times that bring tears to your eyes and then laugh until your belly hurts! The morning just makes you feel good about being a teacher! In the evening about 20 of the staff got all glitzed up for the county's Eddy Awards, which celebrates all of the almost 200 Teachers of the Year in our large county. It's a glamorous affair celebrated by 1300 teachers and their families and friends with a delicious dinner, but it's really just icing on the cake. I don't think anything means as much to our Teachers of the Year as being honored by their own - the teachers who know you inside out and still vote for you! Tom, we love and adore you and are so thankful that you have chosen to spend your life making a difference with our precious children! What a gift!

Finding Mrs. Warnecke

Kindergarten teacher, Maria Mallon, has started working on her Masters Degree. She allowed me to read an assigned paper connecting her own remembrances of learning to read with the research on reading at that time. Maria remembered her teacher having three reading groups - Mary, Jesus and St. Joseph (Catholic School, of course - in my first grade it was the red birds, blue birds and black birds - or buzzards as we sometimes called them!) and how the reading group she was in had shaped her vision of herself as a reader. Her writing connected me with a story from my own past of vividly remembering the day in first grade that I did not know the word "see" and called the word "look". My teacher was furious, furious, furious (as I remember it!) and pulled me up out of my chair by my ear. I was so afraid that she was going to make me wear the baby cap (which was a baby blue crocheted cap with a satin bow she made the "bad" boys wear to lunch) that I was practically trembling. Of course, I had a second grade teacher that changed my life and is the reason I went into teaching - thank goodness! Maria and I decided that if any student was ever going to track us down or write about us, we wanted it to be about something amazing that we had done to change their lives! As teachers, don't we always simply want to make a difference?

This week I finished the inspiring story of Cindi Rigsbee, a former North Carolina Teacher of the Year (and fellow TLNer!), and her first grade teacher, Mrs. Warnecke, who had a positive impact on Cindi's life. Cindi began first grade with an emotionally abusive teacher who had teacher "pets." However, two months into the year half the class was moved to a basement room without windows with a beginning teacher. That beginning teacher, Mrs. Warnecke changed Cindi's life as she made her magical classroom come alive. Cindi was introduced to writing and poetry which became lifelong passions. Cindi eventually became a teacher and tried to track down Mrs. Warnecke because as the years went by she realized more and more how much Mrs. Warnecke had changed the direction of her life. She finally realized that it wasn't Mrs. Warnecke she was trying to track down but it was the Mrs. Warnecke within herself that she was trying to become.

In the Fall of 2008 Cindi and Mrs, Warnecke were reunited on a tearful segment of Good Morning, America. This book chronicles Cindi's life beginning with that life changing year with Mrs. Warnecke to Cindi's decision to become a teacher and her disastrous first few years teaching, to the outstanding teacher she has become. The book is also sprinkled with other teacher's stories of teachers that made a difference in their lives. This is a must read for every teacher!

Mother-Daughter Dynamos!

Debby and Barbara Ellis with Principal Phillips

Last night our county celebrated its Teacher of the Year with a lovely dinner and ceremony. At Chets Creek we celebrated our Teacher of the Year Debby Cothern and her mother, Barbara Ellis, our Employee of the Year! It's the first time we've ever celebrated a mother daughter team and what FUN! The tables were decorated with beautiful flowers and pictures of Barbara and Debby's life. The children had painted pictures as placemats. Each of the grade level teams did a skit and both the PTA and Faculty presented them with gifts. Next we watched a slide show of Barbara, beginning with her baby years, her marriage and the birth of her son and twins, Debby and Donna. We watched Debby move from a toddler through the birth of her own beautiful children - all this while we enjoyed breakfast. All of their family was there - their personal family and their Chets Creek family!

Debby has been a longtime kindergarten and first grade looping teacher. It's hard to think of Debby without her teammate, her best friend and sister-in-law, Michelle Ellis. Debby and Michelle are legendary at Chets Creek. They are a team that has hosted thousands of visitors over the years. They did some of our first live lessons and videoed lessons. They have single-handedly raised the level of what we expect on standard-based bulletin boards. Today they are on our Leadership Team and lead the Kindergarten Team. They are smart, talented, distinguished young women. They are a credit to their families and to our Chets Creek Family.

Barbara came to Chets Creek as a paraprofessional and has worked in Debby and Michelle's room! She has also had her grandchildren in the rooms where she has worked, but she in no way stands in the shadow of her very distinguished daughters. She is a competent and talented in her own right and is the much loved "Grandma Barbara."

How much our lives are enriched by having the Ellis family in our midst!

 

And the Winner Is...

Congratulations to Debby Cothern – this year’s Chets Creek Teacher of the Year! Debby is a looping Kindergarten-First Grade Teacher who was one of the first to pioneer co-teaching in our building. Debby's mom, Barbara Ellis (pictured below with Principal Susan Phillips), is also on staff at Chets! We like to keep it in the family! Debby and her teaching partner, sister-in-law Michelle Ellis, were also one of the first teams to embrace live video streaming and have regularly streamed lessons to the Schultz Center. Debby has also been featured in several America's Choice training videos that are used across the United States for professional development. Debby and Michelle will be highlighted once again this year by video streaming live to the Literacy Leaders who are leading the roll out of the new reading adoption. Debby is currently a Literacy Coach and has long been a Team Leader at Chets Creek. This year she represents her grade level on the Leadership Team. Debby has that quiet strength that is so important to a well balanced team. She is reflective, a true professional, and always steps up to lead her team to do the right thing. At a school of super stars, Debby will represent the depth and quality of this faculty well. Congratulations Debby Cothern – the BEST of the best!

New Duval County Math Educator of the Year 2008

Tonight the Duval County Mathematics Council announced its new Mathematics Educator of the Year... and the award went to our own Angela Phillips!

Angela piloted Math Investigations before it was adopted by the district and was instrumental in creating enthusiasm for the program. She co-led a Math co-hort for three years that led to the birth of the highly successful Academy of Mathematics which brings Math Coaches from across the county together for professional development. She hosts hundreds of visitors in her classroom that come from every part of the country. Angela wrote our Math Diagnostics and the Math formatives before they were offered by the district. She wrote all of the Chets Creek Math Pacing Guides and most of the homework. She didn’t do any of this because it was assigned to her, but because she recognized a need and filled the void. She is a true servant leader and is willing to do “whatever it takes.”

As a coach, Angela is unparalleled. Her instincts about how to deal with even the most complex personalities are always “right on”. Without exception, each teacher that Angela has coached identifies her as the single person that has raised their level of instruction.

As a learner Angela always wants to know more. She always pursues excellence. What is most amazing about Angela is that she is also such a nice person and such a caring, devoted mom.

This is the second year in a row that Chets Creek has taken the top Math honor in our county (last year went to Rick Pinchot). While Anglea and Rick are both intermediate math teachers and coaches - they coach half day and teach half day - they have direct influence on the quality of Math instruction in our Kindergarten. They listen to our concerns and respond because they realize that 5th grade Math is built upon the shoulders of each grade level that comes before it. We are so fortunate to have such incredible talent at Chets Creek. Congratulations, Angela Phillips, Duval County Mathematics Educator of the Year!

Teacher of the Year Celebration

Chets Creek has always celebrated it's Teacher of the Year in the way that I think all teachers should be celebrated.
On the morning of the Duval County's Eddy Awards the school came together by grade level. The grade level of the Teacher of the Year decides on a theme for the celebration and decorates for the event. The theme for this year's Kindergarten Teacher of the Year Haley Alvarado was Super Heroes. The table decorations featured Haley's head on the top of a curvy Wonder Woman - too too cute! Each grade level brought something for breakfast that we enjoyed as the festivities began. Haley really is one of those special people that is a Super Hero to us all.

The festivities began, as they always do, with a PowerPoint salute to the Teacher of the Year which is a "This is Your Life," presenting the teacher from the time she is a child to present in pictures with music. There are always a few "ahhhs" and whistles. This year's video was even more special because during the PowerPoint Haley announced for the first time that she is expecting her second child!

Next, each grade level presented a skit about the special teacher. The skits are usually irreverent and so much fun! This year was no exception! We laughed uncontrollably. We cried. We just enjoyed being teachers! Each grade level traditionally presents the teacher with a gift but this year all the grade levels got together and presented a monetary donation to Children and Family Services Foster Care program to honor Haley for being a foster mom. It brought tears to us all. The Kindergarten Team also honored Haley with a brick that will be part of the flag walk celebrating our tenth year anniversary.

The day ended with the Eddy Awards where we dressed up, enjoyed dinner and a new Duval County Teacher of the Year was crowned. It's a wonderful celebration for our most deserving teacher.

Haley's class honored her on Friday in her classroom where all of the children dressed as their favorite super hero. Melanie Holtsman taught the children to sign "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler because the chorus is, "Did you ever know that you're my hero?" Lahna Benson, now a fourth grader, who had Haley for Kindergarten and 1st grade, signed the verses while Haley's kindergartners signed the chorus. They entertained at a morning breakfast. I understand they sang to a very tearful teacher!

Teacher of the Year is really not about a single teacher. It's about celebrating the vocation that we have each chosen. It is a reminder to us of all of the characteristics that make exceptional teachers and it reminds us of all the reasons we wanted to become a teacher. Actually it's quite a humbling experience for most Teachers of the Year. For the rest of us, it just makes us proud to have chosen this profession! Congratulations Haley! You are a role model to us all! Let us raise our Jello shots to you - To Haley!

Duval County Teachers of the Year

I have spent the last few days reading about and interviewing the semi-finalists for the Duval County Teacher of the Year. I think the collective wisdom of these teachers across the county reflect the same trends I see in our teachers at Chets Creek. As I reflect on all that I have heard and learned, several themes have been repeated:

• Teachers in Duval County are reading professionally! I can remember when we were afraid to ask a question about a teacher's professional reading, because we thought the question might embarass teachers! This group is different and that is a sign that teachers are living their lives as readers! Some of the books that teachers mentioned include The Starbucks Experience,  Fish! Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire, No Quick Fix, Professional Learning Communities at Work, Entertaining an Elephant, Whale Done, What Really Matters in Fluency, The Fluent Reader, Still Learning to Read, Helping Teachers Teach , Ban Those Bird Units, Framework for Understanding Poverty, and First Class Teachers!


• Another thing that came through loud and clear is that relationships are the key to results. Teacher after teacher talked about reaching individual children - especially those hard to reach, challenging students - by getting to know them on a deeper level. Teachers talked about eating lunch with their students to get to know them better, attending soccer games and dance recitals, making home visits, keeping in touch over the summer by dropping books by the home, having after-school clubs such as a Puzzle Clubs to give students a place to come and talk, taking kids to parks and the beach, out to dinner, out for ice cream, shopping, to the movies and to church. All of this, of course, is "over and above" the teaching day but in each case teachers talked about how this extra effort to connect with a child transferred into positive academic results. These "off the clock" experiences made a difference in the lives of children, but as the tears often flowed, you could tell that they also made a difference in the lives of the teachers.


• Teachers also understand that they are in partnership with parents and many offer activities after hours to pull parents into the education of their children including weekly nights at the public library, parent workshops, "Bring Your Parents to School" days, and giving parents access to personal phone numbers and e-mails so that parents can call and write for "anytime" conversation. They understand that parents are the most important teachers and they are often willing to step into the parental role if that parental influence is missing.

Most of all I realize that we have so many teachers who care so deeply and who are giving so much to making a difference in the lives of our children on the First Coast. The words passion, commitment and dedication came up over and over. I was awed and humbled to listen to their intensity. One semi-finalist called teachers " our heroes." I think she is right!

Science

Today all Science teachers at Chets Creek enjoyed grade specific workshops by Rick Ellenburg, the 2008 Florida Teacher of the Year. Rick is an elementary Science Resource teacher from Orlando and was actually a Kindergarten teacher for many years and has a degree in Early Childhood. Rick talked about centers that kinder teachers can use tomorrow. One of those was the "take apart center" which is a way for youngsters to practice fine motor skills by taking apart telephones, toasters, etc. He suggested cutting the cord off and then putting the appliance in a center with a few screw drivers. You might try loosening a few of the screws to get the children started. What a great idea for some of my youngsters - especially boys - who really need that extra practice!

Rick also talked about "observation centers." Normally we might include a few magnifying glasses and some shells or leaves and acorns for students to observe, but Rick includes pheasant feathers, snake skins, small eggs, rat skulls - more interesting things that children can observe. Rick also keeps small insects and objects in plastic medicine bottles that are the perfect size for little hands.

All in all, Rick believes that Science needs to be integrated into our entire day.

 The questioning that we are talking about as a reading comprehension strategy that good readers use is the same questioning that good Scientists use. We need to make that connections for our children. Science content can easily be integrated into our Language Arts work. Science and reading are intertwined as we think about nonfiction text features and comprehension strategies. Teachers need to develop a knack for asking the type of questions that lead children to think instead of simply giving them the answers. This is the same technique we use in Math - raising the level of thinking without giving away the answer. Bottom line - Science piques the interest of our young students, so let's use it!

Relationships

We understand that when teams work well, they are successful in solving problems. Teams are about harnessing the collective talents of a diverse group. In order to provide teams with opportunities to build strong relationships, Chets Creek provides events such as holiday breakfasts, collegiate days, and other celebrations at school, but we also encourage outside events such as Happy Hours after work and team parties and showers, engagement celebrations, etc.. Team leaders are trained on the dynamics of teamwork and are expected to be the one to make sure that no one on the team feels left out. They are expected to provide for opportunities for the grade level to meet outside of school to get to know each other better.

We realize that strong social relationships are the leading indicator of our overall happiness. From Vital Friends we learned that if you have a best friend at work you are more likely to: "engage, get more done in less time, have fun on the job, innovate and share ideas, and feel informed and know your opinion counts."
The Kindergarten Team is an excellent example of how organized events have spilled over in time so that the team directs its own social connections. Tonight the Kindergarten Team met at a local restaurant for dinner after school to celebrate one of its own being named Teacher of the Year. They laughed. They shared stories about each other. They reminisced about other times when they had been together. Sure, they all have families and outside responsibilities, but they know that spending time together is meaningful. Being balanced may be about having great friendships that extend between work and home. These teachers really like each other. They trust each other. They depend on each other. They are not willing to let each other down or to let the Team down. This personal foundation provides the trust that is needed for teachers to truly deepen their work - for teachers to begin to ask for help from their peers and to give honest feedback to each other. They say that many teachers leave the profession because they don't have a friend at work. It's important that we make sure that each teacher has that connection. Each kindergarten teacher has a friend at work that she can go to and ask an embarrassing questions. She has someone that will help when its needed and that will lift her up when she has had a difficult day. And all that makes Chets Creek a GREAT place to work - a place you NEVER want to leave.

Haley Alvarado

Visitors often ask how we develop "fresh out of college" teachers at Chets Creek. Our new Teacher of the Year is an excellent example of a teacher who has spent her entire career with us.

Miss Haley Skinner began her teaching career at Chets Creek, fresh from the University of Florida. I spent some time in Haley's classroom that first year because she had two little ones that were challenged from the first day of school. As the Literacy Coach and Special Education teacher, the principal asked me to try to help. It was obvious from that first year that this was a teacher with heart, with the "gift" for teaching who would leave no stone unturned in her advocacy for the children in her care.

Haley Skinner soon became Mrs. Alvarado. We were all at her wedding, done is typical Haley style. What I remember most is watching her walk down the aisle in such a beautiful dress with her white tennis shoes! During the next several years, Haley shared an office with Maria Mallon, our own Meme. Maria came to Chets Creek with several years of inner city teaching under her belt. Maria is sunshine wherever she goes, is a Master Teacher, and is the heart of the Kindergarten Team. There is no doubt that Haley was mentored and influenced by Maria. They shared their ideas, their questions, their hopes and dreams and became lifelong friends. After only a few years Haley became a National Board certified teacher... and a mom. It seemed that she accomplished both with little effort in her same "in charge", organized style. She continued to ask questions. She was often opinionated and outspoken, but she just HAD to know how to do the best that she could for every student in her care. She was determined. She was passionate. She was emerging as a leader.

A couple of years ago Meredy Mackiewicz, a college student, was assigned as a one-on-one assistant to an autistic child in Haley's class. Haley has always been willing to take on challenging students. (This year she has a room full of second language learners.) She and Meredy became fast friends. After Meredy graduated and had a year of teaching on her own, they decided to join forces and became the "Mackarados." I spent two years in their classroom every day as their Special Education Inclusion teacher. You learn a lot about people when you see them "up close and personal," and I can certainly say that Haley and Meredy are the real thing - they are amazing! You never go into their classroom that things are not humming. They finish each other's sentences. Their lessons are thoughtful and real. They are teaching 100% of the time. They let their heart and mind, their intuition and experience, lead them. They have conversations with their children - real conversations. Their classroom is a learning village where people take care of each other. Their students are learning so much more than readin', ritin' and 'rithmetic. The Mackarados have also consistently had some of the highest assessment scores at the end of the year.

Haley has always been a "looper". She begins a class in Kindergarten and takes them to first grade. Along the way she develops deep and lasting friendships with many of the families. She is often seen at soccer, tee-ball games and dance recitals. She and Meredy actually make signs to hold up and can be quite an obnoxious cheering section! The families love it! Parents confide in her, but she intuitively knows where to draw the line as a professional. This past summer Haley became an Adjunct Professor at the University of North Florida. How fortunate are her students! Haley is the consummate professional always embracing the newest technology or learning strategy. She is a powerful mentor for new teachers to Chets. She is giving back all that has been given to her. When her mentee had difficulty completing DRAs this year, Haley was there to help. When her peers had difficulty completing all their pre-assessment data, Meredy held down their class while Haley went and subbed so other kindergarten teachers could finish. Haley is a problem solver and is always willing to be the voice for the underdog. This year she has led a movement to incorporate more social projects into the lives of our kindergartners - a movement that I think is catching school-wide. She believes that we have a responsibility to the whole child - a message that resonates with her peers. You will see Kindergartners setting up "Alex's Lemonade Stands" at every parent event to raise money for childhood cancer this year. She is the spark plug for getting Chets Creek to recycle. Each kindergarten class will adopt a family for Thanksgiving and the list goes on...

I am so proud to have learned beside Haley these past years. We are so proud to have her represent our school, our Kindergarten, as the 2007 Chets Creek Teacher of the Year. She is a model to so many of our young teachers of what they too can become. She is an example of how we mentor beginning teachers the Chets Creek-way. But Haley is young in her career. She is only beginning the journey. Remember her name... because I believe the best is yet to come...

Florida's Teachers of the Year

I have just returned from Orlando, FL where I have met some of the most outstanding teachers in our state. It was an educational love fest as Macys, the Florida Lottery and the Florida Department of Education spent three days celebrating teachers and announcing the new Florida Teacher of the Year.

This year Duval County was represented by first grade teacher Michelle Stinson. I have had the honor of being in Michelle's classroom. I remember driving up to Kite Elementary School. It's an older school but in this case, older is better. Kite sits up on a hill and is beautifully kept. From the moment the principal, dynamo Erdine Johnson, met us at the door, I was impressed by the clean, neat hallways. The school sparkles with charm. Walking into Michelle's room I immediately compared her classroom to our own primary classrooms at Chets Creek. Every nook and cranny in her room was filled with the the same bright teacher-made charts and student work that I see on our walls. Her class was neat and clean, a polished learning space for young children. Her class was homogeneous as engaged first graders, in hues from the lightest honey to the darkest, richest chocolate, followed their teacher's every move. Our classes at Chets Creek by comparison look more like the United Nations with 31% of our children speaking over 20 different languages, but the engagement is the same. We happened into Michelle's Skills Block. She uses rhythms, rhymes, movement and enthusiasm to teach Phonemic Awareness and Phonics. Her activities were short, fun and full of energy. I found myself singing her chants and songs in my car on the way home! You can feel the electricity and connection between Michelle and her students. What I learned that day is that best practices are best practices, regardless of who the children are or where the school is located.

Rick Ellenberg, a fifth grade Science Resource Teacher, was named the 2008 Florida Teacher of the Year. Rick has been a kindergarten teacher (gotta love a guy that's spent time with the little people!) and is married to a kindergarten teacher. Rick and his wife both teach at Camelot Elementary (!) in Orange County. As I listened to Rick over the three days, I could envision his rich learning environment that spills outside into his garden. He reminded me of how important it is to give our kindergartners hands-on activities that teach them about the world they live in. I can't wait to see Rick's enthusiasm for Science spread across the state.

And finally, Frank Brogan presented the Mary Brogan Award for Teaching Excellence to kindergarten teacher, Anna Phillips, of St. Lucie County. Through tears Anna told her own story of being raised in a Children's Home. Young Anna also suffered from a speech impediment and visual difficulties, but a fourth grade teacher saw the promise deep inside Anna. She told Anna that she could be anything she wanted to be and Anna held tight to that dream. She wanted to be a teacher. As she faced obstacles all along the way, Anna drew strength from her fourth grade teacher. Because that one teacher poured so much into an empty child, Anna is able to pour that same love and strength into the kindergartners that she sees every day. Anna was such an inspirational reminder of how one teacher can change the life of a child.

I guess that was the lesson this week. Great teachers come in all shapes and sizes and ages, but great teaching is alive and well in our state. As I think back, I can't remember one mention of the FCAT (!) even through Florida Commissioner of Education Jeanine Blomberg and State Board Member Donna Callaway were with us all three days, even though Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp spoke to the group, even though the best teachers in Florida were gathered together. They spoke instead about changing the world one child at a time, of making a difference in a child's life, and of the passion that they feel for the mission they call their life's work. It really is a great time to teach in Florida!