Vital factors in the classroom

To the Editor:

As the 2012 Osceola County Teacher of the Year, and one of the five finalists for the state of Florida 2013 Teacher of the Year, I am excited that the 2012-2013 school year will be upon us in just a few short weeks.

In ten years of teaching, I have taught thousands of students, perhaps your son or daughter, and have seen many of them now head off to college and beyond. In this last week, I had the privilege of meeting and working with 71 Teachers of the Year from every county in Florida, as well as from the School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine and the university research high schools. It was an amazing experience, to be collaborating and working with the best of the best, one I will treasure for my entire life, and as a result, I spent a lot of time reflecting this last week what it means to be “the best,” and I have come to the following conclusion:

I am not “the best” teacher. I don’t even know what “best” looks like. But I do know that I get the very best efforts from the vast majority of my students because of three vital factors in my classroom:

1. Strong administration: Nate Fancher’s team at St. Cloud High School is second to none. There is an open door policy for teachers, parents and students. If it’s not that way where your child attends school, ask for it. Be the advocate of change. Go meet the administrators at your child’s school. Yes, it matters.

2. Strong parental support: I have some students whose parents I contact daily. I have others on email group lists weekly, and others I touch base with once or twice a semester. The difference is these parents take my call or answer my email. Parents—GO TO OPEN HOUSE. Even if your child is in high school. Especially if your child is in high school. I think I can speak for 99 percent  of teachers out there.: We would much rather hear from you before there is a problem. When communication is fluid, bad news, if it comes, is not a shot from the grassy knoll. If we call you, return the call! Keep your phone numbers up to date in the office. Give them your cell phone number. There have been times it has taken me days to reach a parent—and the news was good!

3. Students attend class: The students in my class, for the most part, I think are happy to be there. Not because Reading is an exciting subject (although I try my best), but because we make the connection that passing my class will lead to passing the FCAT or ACT. Graduation is the goal. Make sure your child comes to school! The few students that don’t make it are the ones I don’t see in my class every day. School has to be the priority, for without a high school diploma, students are statistically destined to fail.

These seem like simple things, don’t they? But when in place, they almost guarantee your child’s success in school, and yes, in life. In my current position as Osceola County Teacher of the Year, it is my hope that this school year is the very best ever, for you, and your student. But I need one more thing.

My final challenge is for the residents of Osceola County who don’t have students currently in the education system: I NEED YOU! We all need you. Without our business partners and OASIS volunteers, we cannot be successful. In times when money is short everywhere, please, dig deep and give of your time or give financially. $25 in a classroom goes a long, long way. Your time tutoring is priceless. Your donations to the Education Foundation in Osceola County go directly to the students and teachers here, and we need more than you might realize. Pick up supplies for a student who cannot afford them and drop them off to “A Gift for Teaching” on Simpson Road. When school uniforms go on sale, buy something, anything, and drop it off at “The Kid’s Closet. “We have elementary school children in this county with nothing appropriate to wear to school. YOU can make a difference, but you have to choose to do it- don’t just have good intentions, be a person that makes a difference. Do it because your community will only get better and better when we invest in the students of Osceola County.

Please help all of the teachers and students in Osceola County to be the very “best.” We cannot do it without you.

Nanci Brillant

St. Cloud High School teacher

It’s up to the Florida voters

To the Editor:

During the closing stages of the Civil War, Robert E. Lee was trying to link his Army of Northern Virginia up with other confederate forces located in North Carolina after the fall of Richmond. The confederate troops were starving for food and Lee thought he could get them the food they desperately needed if they could link up with a train that had been dispatched just before the fall of the capital. When the troops arrived at the train they found guns and ammo but no food. Lee discovered that his officers had made the decision that guns were more important than food for the troops. Half of Lee’s troops deserted to go home to their families and the rest is history.

This sounds a great deal like the situation in Florida today. Central Florida/Osceola County has seen the largest influx of people from Puerto Rico and Central America over the past decade as any place else in the nation. These people came to Florida for jobs. Our hospitality industry and service sector depend on these workers. While the hospitality/tourist industry is starting to improve, other industries have yet to recover from the economic downturn. Central Florida boasts the highest unemployment rate for Hispanics than any other part of the United States.

So what are our leaders doing? Governor Rick Scott and the State Legislative delegations are continuing to cut services to the people who most need them. They continue to provide tax cuts for the establishment and corporations in the name of encouraging investment. Not unlike supplying guns and ammo to an army that is starving.  The school budgets have been cut, the government funded infrastructure budgets have been cut and the Florida Governor is talking about turning away a Federal healthcare program that will pay 90 percent of the costs to provide healthcare to the workers and families who most desperately need it.

If the state fails to act on the healthcare opportunity then what other options are available for the workers and their employers? Will the employers be forced to pay for 100% of the healthcare costs? How can that encourage more hiring of workers? Why not take advantage of a federal government offer to subsidize healthcare for those workers? As the fourth largest state in the nation, Floridians pay more than their fair share of federal taxes. Why not bring some of that back to our state?

What if the employers fail to provide healthcare for the workers and their families? Will that encourage the best and brightest of workers who came to work in Florida to move elsewhere? Who would want to visit Florida if they felt they might be exposed to contagious disease from service workers who had no access to healthcare? Or if the service workers they encountered did not provide the service the vacationers could get elsewhere? Vacationing in Florida would become like visiting a third world country?  Would it be any surprise if tourists choose to spend more money to stay in safer facilities elsewhere?

Like the general that makes certain the troops are fed and clothed before giving them the weapons to send them into battle, Florida needs to help our businesses take care of the workers who provide the services to our guests. Allow the workers in those service industries to take advantage of the federal healthcare programs available so that Florida businesses can hire those workers without having to pay the costs for healthcare out of the business profits. Allow Florida workers to gain access to healthcare services available through federal programs available in other states. In others words, let’s not be stupid.

When people refuse to learn by their mistakes, history tends to repeat itself. The South lost the civil war because it could not provide its troops with the necessities that were needed to help them fight. Will Florida repeat history again by electing officials to Washington and Tallahassee who care more about providing benefits to those who fund their campaigns? Or will the people vote for representatives and leaders who care more about using government to provide services to those who need it the most?

It’s up to the Florida voters.

Keith Laytham

Poinciana