Georgia On My Mind…

I’m honored to be heading back to Georgia tomorrow to Keynote the Georgia Association of Educational Leaders, GAEL, Fall Conference. GAEL is the organization that provides unity of school leadership groups in Georgia. It is a statewide “umbrella” organization, composed of seven professional affiliate associations that represent all levels of school leadership.

I will be speaking about my book, The Chemistry of Culture, which documents my work with Farrington High School in Kalihi, HI. Farrington was a 3-time National Model School for their highly collaborative and empowered culture.

In the Hawaiian language there is only one word for both teaching and Learning: A’0. Their cultural tradition sees teaching and learning as the two sides of one coin, and when one learns something, they also acquire a responsibility to share it with others. At Farrington HS, everyone is learning, teaching, and sharing. Aloha….

About Jim Warford

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.
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