Link to PBN interview

The link to the  PBN interview.


http://www.pbn.com/Beacon-Charter-educator-named-RI-Teacher-of-the-Year,70619?print=1

Arizona Trip

 My first Teacher of the Year (TOY) trip to Arizona was transformational. Though this paragraph could never do justice to the experience I’ve had, I will share with you some of the highlights. My adventures began in the Boston airport. I was anxiously sitting at the gate, hoping that my husband wouldn’t “misplace” any of our children over the next week. A woman approached me asking, “Excuse me, are you Jessica Waters?”  Hesitantly, I said “yes”; she introduced herself as Kathy the Massachusetts TOY. It felt so good to finally meet another TOY. I curiously asked how she knew who I was. She chuckled, “You have all of your papers’ in that manila folder with a neat binder clip. You had to be a teacher.” Several times throughout the conference speakers referred to teachers as being part of a “tribe”. Even though we came from different districts, content areas, and grade levels and backgrounds, we are part of the 3.7 million teacher “tribe” that is dedicated to educating our students. Though there were only 54 teachers at the conference, we represent millions of educators that share the same beliefs.  Our tribe is strong in numbers and will stop at nothing to improve public elementary and secondary education in the United States. At the conference we had training on dealing with the media as well as tips on how to write effective speeches. We also worked on finding our platform and how to use our voices to advocate for our passion.  We listened to guest speakers from The Council of Chief State School Officers, Target, ING, and previous National Teachers of the Year. Every speech and workshop confirmed what I have always known—we should be proud of our public education system, and should continuously strive to enhance it. I look forward to the upcoming trip to Washington DC with renewed zeal.  

The Sarah from Teaching Channel!

They fed us like royalty

TOY CA

TOY MI

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Friends for a lifetime

Arizona is beautiful!

Botanical gardens

Mashed potato bar!

DR. Deasy--inspirational leader

Today I was so fortunate to have the opportunity to hear Dr. Deasy speak.  Dr Deasy is the superintendent of the second largest school district in the country, LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District.) He leads thousands of teachers, administrators and staff serving a diverse population of more than 980,000 students from newborn to age 24.  He faces problems that I could not even dream up.  He works relentlessly to ensure that ALL youth is given an equal opportunity to succeed.  He deals with a population of youth where 80% live in poverty and 30,000 are homeless.  The graduation rate is only 64% up from 48% last year.  The students collectively speak 107 languages. He wants these students to be able to live the American dream--have somewhere to live and a decent pay after graduation.  I was very inspired by Dr Deasy's work.  Whether in LAUSD or Providence RI, our goal is the same--prepare students for post secondary education or the work force.  To be part of this mission you must have an ALL kid agenda not a SOME kid agenda.  Cheers to Dr. Deasy and his amazing work!

Here's to Brighter Futures for RI Children

 Today I was a guest speaker at the 8th annual Brighter Futures Award Ceremony honoring Commissioner Deborah Gist hosted by Family Service of RI.  This was my first speech since being honored RI Teacher of the Year.  The topic given to me was "excellence in the classroom". I owe a lot to several colleagues for helping me craft an excellent speech. Thank you John Butler, Pat Hawkridge, Shayna Fox, and Carrie Appel.
Everyone at the luncheon was extremely friendly and made me feel so comfortable. Stephen Hug, Senior Vice President at Family Service of RI did a great job keeping me informed and was so thankful. I sat with Patrice Wood who is a charming, beautiful, and graceful women she was so warm and it is evident she truly cares about education and children of RI. She could tell I was so nervous and she suggested I get on stage and "feel it out" which helped me immensely.  I also sat with Betsy Shimberg who calmed my nerves and was delightful company.  I was so nervous about today but when I got on stage surprisingly I really enjoyed speaking especially about a topic that is so meaningful to me--excellence in the classroom. It was so endearing to see so many people that are truly vested in RI children having access to a brighter future. Today I conquered the fear of public speaking to more than 500 people and look forward to the next challenge.  On October 16th I will be speaking to pre-service teachers at RIC followed by a reception. Stay tuned.....

 I will post pictures when they become available.

http://familyserviceri.org