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10 years, she decided she wanted to learn more about her ELL
students, so she earned a master’s degree in Applied Linguistics
to further develop her knowledge about teaching English as a
second language.
At that point, she became a Specialist in the Hillsborough County
school system, overseeing the ELL program for secondary
students. After a brief foray into higher education, Ms. Garcia
moved on to the Pasco County school district, quickly becoming
the Title I Supervisor. She found that there was a great overlap
between the economically disadvantaged Title I students, and
the ELL students with whom she had been working.
After spending several years in Pasco County, she saw the
Federal Programs & Grants position available in Manatee
County - combining her background with both Title I and Title
III students. She felt this could be the perfect t for her training
and experience. She has now been working the Manatee County
school district for more than six years. She credits her varied
experience with giving her the perspective to understand all
these programs and students.
Of this background, she said: “I really love that, because I believe
that with every problem we face as a school district, I have
multiple perspectives to bring to it. Not to mention the sizes of
the districts - Hillsborough is so big, and Pasco is bigger than
us, but not as big as Hillsborough. It’s not just three different
ways of doing it, but how different sized systems approach these
problems and problem-solve.”
Ms. Garcia’s goal for these programs is closing the achievement
gap that appears between lower-income and other underserved
students and their peers. But additionally, she wants the families
of the children her department serves to know that they have
partners in the school system. She explained: “Knowing that
they know there’s somebody here looking out for their kids and
their kids’ best interest - doing something above and beyond for
them – that for me is really rewarding.”
She continued: “We’re constantly striving to see if our kids
aren’t doing as well - what can we do to tweak our programs?”
For example, Ms. Garcia and her team recently took a trip to
Collier County to learn about their Title III (English language
learners) program. She added: “Their ELL students are really
high-performing, so we wanted to learn: what are they doing?
And we’re doing many of the same things, they’re just doing them
slightly differently. So, we’re considering tweaking some of our
programs to mirror theirs in hopes that we get the same results.”
Ms. Garcia credits her team - including program coordinators
Megan Johnson, Debra Estes, Harold Medina, and Lissette
Fernandez - with going beyond the call of duty for their students.
“My department is as strong as the people who are in it - and, man,
do I have some top-notch people who work for me. My coordinators
are just incredible. The work that they do, the hours that they put in,
the pieces of their soul that they give…it’s just amazing.”
Asked what the community can do to help support the work
of her department, Ms. Garcia urges those who are interested
to volunteer. Nearly all the initiatives and programs that the
department coordinates rely on volunteers to help execute.
To contact Ms. Garcia about volunteer opportunities, she
can be reached at 91.751.6550, ext. 232 or by email at
garcia3e@manateeschools.net.
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