McCurtain Daily Gazette

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Idabel Public School Leaders Attend s

Alpha Plus Principal’s Academy
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla.,
Jan. 27, 2020 – Idabel Central
Elementary and Middle
School teams participated
in the Alpha Plus 2019-20
Principal’s Academy held on
January 14 in Oklahoma City.
Central Elementary School
Principal Nancy Copeland
and Intervention Specialist
Tammy Melson joined Middle
School Principal Laura
Bullock, 7th - 8th Grade Math
Teacher Stephanie Armstrong
and Intervention Specialist
Melissa Jones for the mid-
year review.
The Principal’s Academy is
part of the Oklahoma-based
company’s continuous profes-
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sional development for partner report card averages every
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schools that want to improve year.”
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students’ academic results. At
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the January meeting, instruc- Alpha Plus curriculum is
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tional leaders discussed indi- written by Oklahoma teach-
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vidual student growth from ers, for Oklahoma teach-
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the beginning of the year to ers, to Oklahoma Academic
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mid-year benchmarks and tar- Standards.
geted intervention strategies.
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Alpha Plus provides
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“By training principals in training, assessments and
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the Alpha Plus model, we resources for schools state-
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are building sustainability for wide. Founded in 1990 by an
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continued academic success,” Oklahoma teacher, Alpha Plus
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Jan Barrick, Alpha Plus CEO curriculum and teaching tools
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said. “Our partner schools are aligned solely to Oklahoma
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YQTMGHſEKGPVN[CPFGHHGEVKXG- Academic Standards. More
ly in the classroom, and that information about Alpha Plus,
s
shows in the results. That’s visit www.alphaplus.org.
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why Alpha Plus schools have
w
outperformed the state school

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The Examiner

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Muskogee Phoenix

begin Saturday. The scouts gathered at Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame recently. (See FOCUS, 8)

EDUCATION SPOTLIGHT
SCHOOL AND POSITION: Eighth-grade Northeastern State University; Teacher and Special Olympics Committee.
English Language Arts Teacher at 7th of the Month for the site on multiple Helping my mom, Kim Shelton, with the
and 8th Grade Academy. occasions, Teacher of the Month for Muskogee Community Food Pantry in
CITY OF RESIDENCE: Muskogee. Muskogee Public Schools District level, honor of my late father, Jerry Shelton.
ACTIVITIES AND DUTIES AT SCHOOL: Fund For Teachers previous Fellow, New Highest honor, being a mom to four
Eighth-grade Teacher, Team Leader of Tech Network participant and member, wonderfully amazing children, one
Delta Team, Member of the Culture member of Association for Middle Level daughter-in-love, one adorably cute and
Committee.  Education, trained in AVID Strategies and smart grandson! Three of my children are
SCHOOL HONORS OR AWARDS: being a mentor to new teachers. serving in our nation’s best Navy in the
Bachelor of Elementary Education COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES AND/OR world: Two at Camp Lejuene’s hospital
from Langston University; Masters HONORS: Special Friend Award to and one on the USS Blueridge out of
Melissa Million in Educational Administration from my family from the Special Education Yokosuka, Japan.

Tell us about your biggest educational
highlight honor or accomplishment.
What was it and how did you do it?  rewarding experiences that I have!”
“My biggest educational highlight
comes in the form of teaching children.
Each day, some new obstacle may be
placed in a student’s path and as an edu-
cator, it is my job to work hard at reaching
out and teaching them to help them over-
come the obstacles in their way. Students
know my expectations are very high and
sometimes, of course, as middle school
students do, they struggle with those ex-
pectations I have set. This is when I remind
them that it is my goal to prepare them for
high school and beyond, and we can get
WORTHY of RECOGNITION
through this together. The ‘a-ha’ moments “Being a teacher requires adaptability
in a classroom tend to be some of the most and flexibility. It is a ‘work in progress.’ It is
something you have to work at every day!
One of my strengths is self-reflection. How
Why is this accomplishment import- did this lesson go? Was it a good lesson?
ant for you?  Or a bad one? Do I keep it or trash it? What
“Because, as Whitney Houston said best, can I do to make it better? My classroom
“I believe that children are our future. Teach is always evolving and I love being trained
them well and let them lead the way!” This in multiple teaching approaches and
statement alone is representative of educa- strategies, such as New Tech and Project
tors across the globe, and it is important to Based Learning, as this allows me to add
me because I know that in Muskogee, we variety to my lessons. I also love the way
prepare our children for the future.” Muskogee Public Schools allows us to have
multiple resources to create magnificent
How much did you have to work to ac- lessons for our students! I have to work ev-
complish this goal or honor? ery day to stay atop of the current trends in
teaching! If I showed up at 8:20 and left at
3:45, I wouldn’t be able to accomplish this.” 
What plans do you have for the fu-
ture?
“Developing Project Toolkits which
incorporate our new Alpha Plus Curricu-
lum that will develop and generate the
best possible student leaders for the high
school. My life plans: grow a garden that
I can share with others; help the veteran
community; be a staunch supporter of our
nation’s military, especially the Navy; and
be THE best ‘gammy’ in the world!”
— Cathy Spaulding

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