The Peter R. Marsh Foundation was proud to add our new Middle School Music Grant program this year, and we’re particularly pleased to now introduce Jan Greco as the Program Director.
Embarrassingly shy and self-conscious as a young girl, terrified of being in the spotlight, Jan avoided many of the childhood experiences that develop social and emotional intelligence at all cost. Common events such as delivering an oral report from the front of the classroom, performing at piano recitals or challenging for “first chair” in junior high band were far outside her comfort zone and she refused to participate, receiving little to no encouragement from her teachers or peers.
Unfortunately, bowing out of these opportunities fed the fears and hampered her personal growth and development for many years. Now a grandmother, Jan understands and appreciates the distinct life-value of those educational moments and is delighted to serve the Peter R. Marsh Foundation as Middle School Music Grant Program Director.
Jan is particularly inspired by the Foundation’s quest to aid in the social and emotional development of children and greatly encouraged by the focus on community service and relationships, particularly between students and the oft-neglected senior citizens across the country.
Jim Warford is the author of, The Chemistry of Culture: Strategies You Can Use to Create a Culture of Learning. For 15 years Jim Warford was Senior Advisor and Keynote Speaker for the International Center for Leadership in Education. Jim is an author, speaker, Leadership and Instructional Coach. He was named in March 2003 as Florida’s first Chancellor of K12 Public Schools. He stepped down in September, 2005 to become Executive Director of the Florida Association of School Administrators, representing over 10,000 Florida school leaders. As a Senior Advisor for the International Center for Leadership in Education, he works with states, districts and schools to provide coaching and executive training and support to school leaders and their staffs.
As Florida’s Chancellor, he led the creation and state-wide implementation of Florida’s Continuous Improvement Model, FCIM, which resulted in that state’s dramatic gains in student achievement and an 80% reduction in the number low-performing schools. FCIM remains Florida’s required intervention for all low-performing schools.
As Superintendent of the Marion County, Florida Public Schools, he first implemented the Continuous Improvement Model district-wide. As a result, school grades went from three “F”, eight “D” and only one “A” school in 1999 to twenty “A”, 16 “B” and no “F” schools in 2003. Under his leadership the high school dropout rate was cut in half.
He taught applied technology courses at the high school level for 17 years and created a Computer Graphics/Video Production program that won many national and state awards. He was named Vanguard High School Teacher of the Year three separate times.
Jim Warford 
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