Bernie Kemp Named Broward’s
School-Related Employee of the
Year 2005-2006

It was a lucky day for Liberty Elementary School’s students, parents, faculty, staff and administration when Bernie Kemp was selected as the school’s Community Liaison. Although elementary education was not his area of expertise, he hit the ground running. He quickly identified significant ways he could support the school and its families. Kemp was named as Broward County Public Schools School-Related Employee of the Year 2005 - 2006 at a celebration breakfast held at the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Airport Hotel in Dania.

One of Mr. Kemp’s significant goals at the school was to attain the prestigious Five Star School Award presented by the Florida Department of Education. The honor is only awarded to schools that demonstrate exemplary family and community involvement. He joined the School Advisory Council; actively sought out venues outside of the school where the group could meet; and arranged for the Title I mobile unit to be on hand to encourage parents to check out materials to work with children on reading, writing and math skills at home.

He also sought to improve the level of involvement of business partners. He canvassed the community to identify new businesses that wanted to work with the school. In the process he tripled the number of school partners from four to twelve. Partners display student work, support the Saturday School Program and support students in need. He even organized a Mega Skills training program for parents during the month long Saturday School. Parent attendance was strong, averaging 30 parents per meeting and the only negative comment was that Saturday School ended too quickly.

As a direct result of Mr. Kemp’s efforts, not only did Liberty Elementary School earn the designation of Five Star School, it also reached the goal set for parent involvement in Liberty’s School Improvement Plan (SIP) and increased parent access to free educational materials. Eighteen finalists for Broward’s School-Related Employee of the Year were also honored at the event for the contributions they make to students in Broward County.

The Broward Education Foundation and Citigroup Fund
New Teacher Resource

The Broward Education Foundation and Citigroup have combined forces to provide funding for a New Teacher Resource Program that provides high-quality teaching materials and online courses aimed at preparing and retaining new educators. While not replacing any existing new teacher program, this innovative initiative serves as an additional resource for the District’s newest professional educators. Teachers with less than three years of experience who have shown excellence and promise in their field are welcome to join this recently launched pilot program.

A member of the Broward Guild of Teachers is assigned to serve as a mentor to each of the 250 new teachers enrolled in the program. As an incentive for new teachers to participate in the New Teacher Resource Program, they each receive 30 in-service hours upon completion.

For additional information about this opportunity, please contact the Broward Education Foundation at 754-321-2034.