Hillsborough County students go back to school next week, but teachers are already back in their classrooms. On Monday, Aug. 17, Hillsborough County Superintendent Jeff Eakins spoke to faculty and staff at Bailey Elementary School on their first day of the 2015-16 school year.
Eakins, who is the new superintendent for the school district, is starting his 29th year in education. A graduate of Ohio State and Nova Southeastern Universities, Eakins began teaching in Hillsborough County in 1989 as a teacher at Wimauma Elementary School.
“I absolutely fell in love with Hillsborough County,” Eakins said.
Last year, Hillsborough County had 205,000 students and 27,000 district employees, making it one of the largest economic footprints in the county.
“I have a duty to ensure a quality of life for this entire organization,” Eakins said. “I have to make sure that you and your livelihood are taken care of in both good and bad times.”
This year, Eakins is focused on building a strong school culture across the district, which develops from having great teachers who model great character, and a behavioral support plan and classroom procedures that have an equal balance between rules, consequences and rewards.
Eakins said that a teacher’s professional growth should be completely supported, but that their evaluation process — such as for district positions — begins in the classroom.
“Your interview has already started,” he said.
At the Aug. 17 meeting, Eakins reminded faculty and staff that they were all focused on the same goal: to help kids succeed.
“It doesn’t matter what your role is, we’re all in it for the same reason,” he said. “We exist in this profession to serve kids.”
This year, the school district has a new vision of preparing students for life. For the last 10 years, the goal of the school district has been to have Hillsborough County schools be in the top 1% of schools in the nation.
However, Eakins does not want to start off the school year focused on data.
“That’s not where it has to start,” Eakins said. “It has to start with people caring about kids. Notice life does not just mean academics.”
In his speech, Eakins explained the importance of establishing relationships with students and giving them a path for the future. The goal, he said, was not just to get them across the stage by the time of their high school graduation, but to give them a direction and a plan for their life after that.
“We sold ourselves short if students after graduation have no direction,” Eakins said.
The desire to help kids succeed in life can not just come from teachers, Eakins said. He noted the importance of clerical workers, custodial staff, bus drivers and guidance counselors as leaders in the life of a student.
“We are all interconnected,” he said. “Every person must be an advocate for children.”
At the end of his speech, Eakins reminded teachers that they are molding students to be persistent about not giving up — and that they need someone who won’t give up on them.
“You are the person who can help them … start overcoming barriers,” Eakins said. “You will change lives this year, I know you will.”
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.