NOVEMBER 3, 2006
Excitement is building as it grows closer to the announcement of the winner of the Council for Educational Change’s 4th Annual $10,000 Leonard Miller Principal Leadership Award. The announcement will be made at a special event Nov. 15, 2006 at the Bank United Center at the University of Miami. The finalists are: Linda Geller, West Tampa Elementary, Hillsborough; Alejandro Perez, Comstock Elementary, Miami-Dade; and Nongongoma Majova-Seane, Eugene Butler Middle School, Duval.
Our thanks to the teams of educators and corporate leaders who conducted the finalist interviews for the Leonard Miller Principal Leadership Award: Scott Curtis, Senior Vice President of Raymond James & Associates; Ramon Rodriguez, Corporate & Employee Giving, Washington Mutual; Helen Lane, Muffet Corse and Joannie Newton, PASS CEO’s and funders; and Barbara Barrs, Margaret Cuesta and Geri Kelly, retired Principals. The Award is sponsored by the Cobb Family Foundation, Edward W. Easton, Richard & Susan Finkelstein, Baptist Health and the PL Dodge Foundation.
Applying student performance data…meeting the new Science FCAT requirements…becoming instructional leaders. These were just a few of the skill building sessions at the Council’s Assistant Principal Leadership Forums in Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, and Jacksonville for more than 270 participants. They were sponsored by the Florida Department of Education’s William Cecil Golden Professional Development Program for School Leaders and through corporate sponsorship including: Publix, JPMorgan Chase, The St. Joe Company, New York Life Insurance Company and Comcast. More information follows.
School-based leaders throughout Florida were introduced to the comprehensive professional learning opportunities and activities available through the William Cecil Golden Professional Development Program for School Leaders, developed by the Florida Department of Education, at the 2006 Council Academies and Forums. The Council is a partner in this initiative, contributing online learning modules including the Florida Principal Leadership Standards, Building Instructional Leadership Teams: The Mission of the Principal as Instructional Leader; and Arts in Education (developed with Council Board Member and Florida First Lady Columba Bush). The Council developed tools such as the Prior Learning Inventory that help school-based leaders track and chart their professional development. Initiative activities and resources can be found at www.deltaschoolleaders.org.
The Council will hold its Semi-Annual Board Meeting at the Wellness Center at the University of Miami on Nov. 15, 8:45 a.m. Florida Commissioner of Education John Winn, State Board of Education Chair Phil Handy, and Education Chancellor Cheri Yecke will be special guests at the Meeting. They will also attend the Leonard Miller Principal Leadership Award event following the meeting.
Council Board member Steve Uhlfelder was honored as a National Daily Point of Light award recipient at the annual Points of Light Reception on Oct. 17 hosted by Governor Jeb Bush, Columba Bush, and Lt. Governor Toni Jennings, at the Governor’s Mansion. He was honored for his involvement in several Volunteer Florida Foundation programs and is the voluntary chair of the Florida Mentoring Partnership. The award was presented by Bob Goodwin, CEO of the National Points of Light Foundation in Washington, in conjunction with Governor Bush’s Florida program. Mr. Uhlfelder is a prominent Tallahassee attorney and educational advocate.
Thanks to funding from the state legislature, the Council is developing and implementing a new round of PASS schools. Among the recent models are: Holmes Elementary in Miami-Dade, partnering Council Board member and PASS CEO Jeffrey Miller with Principal Dahlia Gonzalez; and the USF/Patel Charter school in Tampa, partnering Council Board Vice Chair Gene Marshall with Principal L. Rylene Stein. The Patel Foundation for Global Understanding is the sponsor for the USF/Patel PASS model.
PASS CEO Thomas Toomey was Principal for the Day on Oct. 10 at Robinson High School in Tampa, sitting in for Principal Laura Zavatkay. Mr. Toomey is the Vice President of the New York Life Insurance Company and has been an active PASS CEO at Robinson since 2004. The New York Life Insurance Company also helped to sponsor the Tampa Assistant Principal Forum.
The Council is pleased to announce and appreciate a generous and significant gift from the Lennar Foundation which will be used to support the organization’s Principal Leadership, Think Tank and programmatic work. We offer our sincere thanks for their support.
Three Council Assistant Principal Leadership Forums Reach Across State to Deliver Leadership Development
Over 250 Assistant Principal participants from schools and districts throughout Florida attended the three recent Council for Educational Change Assistant Principal Leadership Forums. The Forums were held in Tampa on Sept. 20-22, Fort Lauderdale on Oct. 3-5 and Jacksonville on Oct. 25-27. The Forums were sponsored by the Florida Department of Education’s William Cecil Golden Professional Development Program for School Leaders (DELTA), Publix Super Markets Charities, JPMorgan Chase, The St. Joe Company, New York Life and Comcast. All Florida Superintendents were offered scholarships for Assistant Principals to attend the Forums.
The Forums, in their 2nd year, are designed to improve the leadership skills of Assistant Principals, and help them chart their future professional development. They incorporate content elements from the Council’s successful Florida Leadership Academies and are in sync with the Florida Department of Education Principal Leadership Standards.
CONTENT
The Forums incorporated FCAT study skills for Reading, Math and Science delivered by nationally renowned educational presenters. They introduced emerging leaders to the process of Change Leadership and Building Learning Communities through critical skill development in organizational skills, communication skills, and data-driven decision-making. Attendees include aspiring Principals and Assistant Principals desiring to sharpen their skills and effectiveness.
According to the daily surveys taken at all of the Forums, 100% of all attendees found the events useful and will be taking back newly acquired strategies, tools and resources to use at their school. Mentors, veteran educators who help to guide the participants during the event, are a special feature of the Forums and the Council’s Florida Leadership Academies. Almost 100% found their mentor’s assistance to be of great benefit.
EVALUATION
Each Forum is evaluated by the participants daily and for overall impact. The evaluations were overwhelmingly positive. Here’s what some participants had to say:
“The entire forum was excellent. The presenters and sessions were very informative and useful. I learned a great deal. Thanks for the incredible opportunity.”
“I enjoyed the AP's forum, the mentors, guest speakers and presenters. Thank you. The review activities done by the cohorts were very informative and interesting.”
“Excellent program. I find it very interesting that every one of your events is incredible. Please keep doing what you do. I am renewed and refreshed! I have a new attitude! I will begin today to change my school for the better by working to change relationships and how we look at and use the data.”
“I truly enjoyed and learned a great deal from the presenters and mentors. It renewed my sense of commitment at my school.”
“Thank you for all the useful tools and information. I look forward to returning to work and utilizing this new found information.”
“Great Forum!!!! I am glad that my district chose me to attend. I cannot wait to get more information regarding future conferences.”
“This is the best professional workshop I've attended in years. All of the presenters were excellent; my mentor was great. Thank you CEC and Duval for allowing me to attend.” |
