Jones Principal Receives National Recognition

Jones Principal Receives National Recognition

posted Oct 28, 2014, 12:29 PM by Lauren Taylor   [ updated Nov 3, 2014, 9:22 AM ]

Written by: Rick Schaeffer

Melissa Fink directs her staff daily to teach students whose background is high poverty. All but a very few of Jones Elementary students are on free or reduced lunch. As principal at Jones, Fink has earned several awards but she may be about to receive her highest recognition.

Laurie Calvert, Teacher Liason in the Office of Communications and Outreach at the United States Department of Education was in town Tuesday to observe Melissa for most of the day. She spent time in several classrooms in trying to determine the angle she would take in producing a video that will be made available to every teacher in the country. That’s right. EVERY teacher in the entire country.

Only four principals and/or teachers in the U.S. were selected. Why Melissa Fink?

“We have six categories we are trying to cover and the more we looked at her work, we discovered Melissa Fink could serve as an example in any of the six,” Calvert said while visiting Justin Minkel’s classroom at Jones.

How did she know about Melissa in the first place?

“I have had several opportunities to communicate with Justin Minkel and have a great deal of respect for his insights,” said Calvert. Minkel was one of four finalists for national teacher of the year a few years ago and is highly connected. “I was asking Justin for a teacher who would be good for this video and he kept coming back to his principal. We realized she was a perfect candidate.”

Candidate for what? What is the video about?

“It’s a video to encourage teachers to know that the changes being made in education are meaningful and progress is being made,” Calvert said. “We are reaching kids we never would have reached before and Jones is a perfect example. At Jones they believe that every child will succeed and they are doing what it takes to make sure that happens. They have high expectations for their students. It’s exciting to hear what some of these kids want to do.”

Calvert and her crew will return some time during the next two weeks to begin work on the video. Melissa and her staff will be ready.

“This is a great honor,” Fink said. “We are thrilled they chose Jones.”

https://sites.google.com/a/sdale.org/springdale-schools/home/-springdalestories-blog/jonesprincipalreceivesnationalrecognition