The Phoenix Fund for Professional Development
W
e at the College know that the best opportunities for students come when they have the best-prepared teachers. In 2002, Cynthia Schumacher (B.A. ’50, M.A. ’51) and Nina Shuman (B.S. ’50, M.S. ’56) endowed the Phoenix Fund for Professional Development in Public Schools. Originally focused in Lake County, Florida, where Schumacher and Shuman taught until retirement in 1985, the Phoenix Fund supported several projects over the next decade. "I feel blessed with the opportunity to have received an outstanding education. We believe that every child in this county should have that same chance,” said Schumacher. In 2015, COE faculty Ella-Mae Daniel and Phyllis Underwood (BS ’85, MS ’03, PhD ’09) responded to Gadsden County’s interest in the Conscious Discipline program and the Phoenix Fund was available to support teacher training once again. The last two summers have seen half a dozen Gadsden County administrators and teachers attend the summer workshops for Conscious Discipline. Daniel describes the process as “building a culture of behavioral patterns that
FSU College of Education alumnae Cynthia Schumacher and Nina Shuman
empower teachers to create and engage students in positive classroom norms and provide high levels of positive interactions and transformative learning.” Through the Phoenix Fund, principals and teachers receive the training they have requested at no cost to them or their school. The power of the endowment is that once established, it exists in perpetuity and as the needs of communities change, the College can help meet those needs with the approval of our donors. To learn more about the professional development opportunities available through the Phoenix Fund for Educators, or how to create a rural county scholarship for students who may need a little extra help, please call Assistant Dean for Development, Kevin Derryberry, at (850) 645-0565 or e-mail kderryberry@fsu.edu.
Teachers from Gadsden County Public Schools attended a training on Conscious Discipline, led by FSU College of Education faculty members Dr. Phyllis Underwood and Ella-Mae Daniel
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