Friday, October 4, 2013

Two fiery teachers return to national forum

Butler High biology teacher Joanna Schimizzi will take part in a nationally televised "teacher town hall" this weekend,  part of the NBC Education Nation summit taking place in New York City. The town hall,  moderated by Brian Williams,  will air live on MSNBC from noon to 2 p.m. Sunday.

Schimizzi
Schimizzi got a kick out of the  "teachers on fire"  label I gave her and Rob Leichner when they returned sizzling with excitement after last year's summit. And she chafed a bit at comments suggesting that the two young teachers weren't likely to stick around long. She and Leichner sent a joint  email to let folks know that both are still teaching  (Leichner is at West Meck)  and still enthusiastic.

Both are advising the U.S. Department of Education,  served on CMS task forces and are working on Common Core academic standards. Both were chosen as CMS STEM all-star teachers and are returning to the summit this year.

Leichner
"We are so proud to represent our students,  our schools,  our district,  our state and all the dedicated teachers who are answering NBC's 2013 question 'What does it take?' "  they wrote.

The summit starts at 8 a.m. Sunday with a student town hall and includes a range of panels and speakers Monday and Tuesday.  You can catch parts on various NBC shows or look for the live stream on  EducationNation.com, the NBC News YouTube Channel and YouTube’s Education Channel.


10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Will they be tools and mouthpieces of the educrats or will they have the guts to tell the truth? There is not much to be " excited" about in the classrooms of this country. And - it is NOT the fault of the students. It is because of politicians.

Anonymous said...

I admire their passion and enthusiasm. Teachers like them can truly "turn a kid on" to learning. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

8:24...

I am also wary of this exchange. You're right... it is the politicians. Gates funded all aspects of CC and used the US DOE to make it appear voluntary and state-led which they are neither. Just remember what the "ms" in msnbc stands for; its easy to follow the money.

Anonymous said...

You are all wrong. The problem with education today is parents. Until parents begin to actively invest in their children's education, there is little teachers can do.

Anonymous said...

Parents are the #1 factor when it comes to academic achievement and behavior. A great teacher is icing on the cake.

Anonymous said...

Exactly! But that is not a popular concept these days. Parents have abdicated all responsibility to the schools for their kids education and then give little to no support to the teachers with regard to discipline or reinforcing concepts children are learning. It would be helpful at this forum to address this problem. Then, and only then, will we ever make headway in improving public education.

Anonymous said...

I will jump to the conclusion that the only people making comments on this blog ARE the involved parents!

Anonymous said...

Part of the problem with the parents is due to the local race profiteers bullying school boards and timid superintendents. School administrators are no longer allowed to run the schools for the purpose of public education.

No one understands that if you culled out the 2 to 3% trouble makers and such, you can increase graduation rates at least 10%. Teachers could focus on teaching and administrators could focus on better supporting teachers.

By the way, graduation rates are increasing for the same reason the crime rate is decreasing. Read the book Freakonomics.

Anonymous said...

These teachers are Fiery because their parents were probably involved in their development as human beings!
Their parents must have nurtured them and taught them to have empathy for everyone. These teachers became independent thinkers and are teaching their students to grow and reach for whatever goal they set for themselves. Congrats to these teachers!

Anonymous said...

So much for that fiery spirit. Schimizzi is only teaching part time this year and chances are good she won't be teaching at all after that.