2015-2016 JA (of Abilene) Educator of the Year - Leslye Roberts

Author: Lina Bois
Work Readiness
Published: Friday, 04 Nov 2016

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Original Story <https://www.juniorachievement.org/web/ja-abilene/blog/-/blogs/2015-2016-ja-educator-of-the-year-leslye-roberts?_33_redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.juniorachievement.org%2Fweb%2Fja-abilene%2Fblog%3Fp_p_id%3D33%26p_p_lifecycle%3D0%26p_p_state%3Dnormal%26p_p_mode%3Dview%26p_p_col_id%3Dja-column-right%26p_p_col_count%3D1> from Junior Achievement of AbileneWe all have educators who inspired and prepared us to become better people than we were before meeting them. For some, it?s a coach, others a music instructor, and classroom instructors affect us all. Sometimes, however, the counselors and administrators don?t get recognized due to the nature of a job that isn?t on the front lines of education. In the case of selecting the JA Educator of the Year, it was easy to see the impact of the Instruction Coordinator at Abilene ISD <http://abileneisd.org/site/default.aspx?PageID=1> ?s Lee Elementary School <http://abileneisd.org/Domain/632> .Leslye Roberts is not in the classroom each day anymore now that she is no longer a teacher, but now affects a larger number of students in her role as the campus? Instruction Coordinator. Leslye also served as the campus? JA Coordinator. Leslye took it upon herself to study the correlations between the JA programs and state standards for each grade level (K through 5th), compare this to the time on the calendar scheduled to teach their financial literacy curriculum, and chose to place the JA in a Day at Lee Elementary School square in the middle of the Spring semester to raise the students? awareness and ability to comprehend financial literacy components.The relationship between JA and Lee Elementary School began a year ago when JA of Abilene received a $13,000 grant from the Dian Graves Owen Foundation to increase JA programs in AISD?s lower income elementary schools. After a thorough selection process, Lee was chosen to be the most recent school added to the JA program mix.Leslye scheduled an in-person training for each teacher by JA staff, allowed JA staff to present at an in-service meeting, helped JA personnel each step of the way, encouraged students and teachers to anticipate the JA experience, and collected same-day thank you cards from each student for their volunteer to receive. Leslye went above and beyond to make Junior Achievement as effective as possible. Leslye chose to inspire and prepare the students at Lee Elementary School to be successful young peopleThank you for everything Leslye Roberts!