Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice September, 2017

Stoking The FlameOf Learning

‘School Spirit’ TakesOn New Meaning AtSummit, Convocation

(See Director’s Message, page 2)

By William MastineHow do you get to Beaumont JCC from Libya?In the case of our instructor T. Michael Hackett, it was a circuitous route with his military family, as well as his own service with

the U.S. Air Force, that took him throughout Europe before landing here in Virginia. He was born in Tripoli, and lived in Madrid and Barcelona, Spain, and Aviano, Italy, before working in Germany with the Air Force as a nurse anesthetist. While stationed in Germany he managed to cover most of the “hot spots” on the continent.

Fortunately for our students, Mr. Hackett brought his worldly experience to the classroom, where he has been teaching in various iterations and locations with DJJ for the past 29 years. Mr. Hackett says, with some sagacity, that he chose to teach at Beaumont because he “thought it would be interesting.”

Now, as he and the rest of us are preparing to move to Bon Air, we would all like to know more about him. For example, what is the secret to his longevity? How has he consistently been one of the very best teachers in our school? I mainly teach math, which you can do with a pencil and paper. English is pretty much the same way. Even history can be done mainly through lectures and notes, if absolutely necessary. But how do you teach the sciences with nothing but your talent – no scientific supplies, no equipment?

But that’s what we all do, I hear you say. Don’t get me wrong, you all have talent. But consider: Art instructor Meghan Hamm has paints, canvases and art supplies. Quilting instructor Roy Mitchell has material and machines worth thousands of dollars at his disposal. Hackett has Hackett, an occasional PowerPoint and lots of paper. I don’t know about you, but when I was in school (and I’m the oldest teacher here) I had a full set of chemicals, test tubes, Bunsen burners, flasks, samples, and a fully equipped lab for biology, chemistry and earth science. A lab for each one, mind you – not one for all three.

As an inclusion teacher at Beaumont, I’ve spent much of the past 10 years in Mr. Hackett’s various science classes. Basically, he never stops. He is on his feet for the entire period, teaching, checking, presenting, cajoling, joking, assessing, and repeating, repeating and repeating. He is very difficult to sidetrack. He has some problematic students like the rest of us, but he will work with them at any time for whatever the need might be. He knows all the kids, does their secret handshake, and is always talking to them in and out of class. The students may not all like him (very rare), but they all know that Mr. Hackett teaches...all of the time.

For Mr. Hackett, success as a DJJ teacher seems to involve dogged determination, a fair amount of intelligence, an understanding of our students, and the sports page on an occasional Friday after work. Not a bad combination, but rare nevertheless.

EDUTOPICS PAGE 2

The Education Unit has just completed two exciting and inspiring events!

Every summer, the Education Leadership Team reviews our strategic plan to monitor progress and performance measures. This year’s two-and-a-half-day session, which we themed “It’s A Jungle Out There!”, was expanded to include input from other stakeholders including central office and building-level education staff and representation from the Virginia Public Safety Training Center and Residential Services – 55 people in all.

We asked everyone to think about telling their “Leadership Story.” Our goal was to have them take a close look at the power they all have to be creative and effective leaders. The information we shared painted a picture of strategic and purposeful steps they can take to improve teaching and learning, while also forging strong partnerships between the education unit, operations staff, and Central Office. In addition to our focus on leadership, the significant initiatives we will roll out this year are:

Focus on personalized learning.–We are strong proponents of the Virginia Tiered System of Supports (VTSS) model which addresses academics and behaviors, and have been laying a foundation to address both of these. To address academics, we provided extensive professional learning opportunities for staff, targeted instructional knowledge of curriculum, use of instructional strategies, provided training, access and review of data for effective instructional decision

making, and added dedicated teacher planning time. This year we will move forward with our personalized learning model, which will focus on how youth are assigned to courses and more online options for credit recovery. We expect this model to better meet our students’

needs and adhere even more closely to the Community Treatment Model.

Implementation of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) model. – This model is based on research from both public education and through our collaborative efforts with juvenile correctional systems. We asked our youth what incentives would be most meaningful to them. Their suggestions included food, name-brand body wash and additional phone time.

Working with specific students as teacher/advisors. – To support students, this year staff will be assigned to specific youth of a particular unit as teacher advisors. This will give youth an even stronger voice as staff will have dedicated youth they will support.

We also officially introduced our new Yvonne B. Miller High School mascot – the cougar! To continue our focus on school culture, we sought input from students and staff to identify mascot options and voted for one mascot to unify the campuses. The cougar mascot made a grand entrance at the Summer Planning Session, and staff all received a Yvonne B. Miller High School T-shirt featuring the new cougar logo to be worn on “Spirit Days” throughout the school year.

The 2017-2018 Convocation followed a few days

Director’s Message

Dr. Lisa Floyd

Dr. Adam Saenz, right, spoke to this year’s convocation. He credits a teacher with inspiring him to earn two doctorate degrees.

By William MastineHow do you get to Beaumont JCC from Libya?In the case of our instructor T. Michael Hackett, it was a circuitous route with his military family, as well as his own service with

the U.S. Air Force, that took him throughout Europe before landing here in Virginia. He was born in Tripoli, and lived in Madrid and Barcelona, Spain, and Aviano, Italy, before working in Germany with the Air Force as a nurse anesthetist. While stationed in Germany he managed to cover most of the “hot spots” on the continent.

Fortunately for our students, Mr. Hackett brought his worldly experience to the classroom, where he has been teaching in various iterations and locations with DJJ for the past 29 years. Mr. Hackett says, with some sagacity, that he chose to teach at Beaumont because he “thought it would be interesting.”

Now, as he and the rest of us are preparing to move to Bon Air, we would all like to know more about him. For example, what is the secret to his longevity? How has he consistently been one of the very best teachers in our school? I mainly teach math, which you can do with a pencil and paper. English is pretty much the same way. Even history can be done mainly through lectures and notes, if absolutely necessary. But how do you teach the sciences with nothing but your talent – no scientific supplies, no equipment?

But that’s what we all do, I hear you say. Don’t get me wrong, you all have talent. But consider: Art instructor Meghan Hamm has paints, canvases and art supplies. Quilting instructor Roy Mitchell has material and machines worth thousands of dollars at his disposal. Hackett has Hackett, an occasional PowerPoint and lots of paper. I don’t know about you, but when I was in school (and I’m the oldest teacher here) I had a full set of chemicals, test tubes, Bunsen burners, flasks, samples, and a fully equipped lab for biology, chemistry and earth science. A lab for each one, mind you – not one for all three.

As an inclusion teacher at Beaumont, I’ve spent much of the past 10 years in Mr. Hackett’s various science classes. Basically, he never stops. He is on his feet for the entire period, teaching, checking, presenting, cajoling, joking, assessing, and repeating, repeating and repeating. He is very difficult to sidetrack. He has some problematic students like the rest of us, but he will work with them at any time for whatever the need might be. He knows all the kids, does their secret handshake, and is always talking to them in and out of class. The students may not all like him (very rare), but they all know that Mr. Hackett teaches...all of the time.

For Mr. Hackett, success as a DJJ teacher seems to involve dogged determination, a fair amount of intelligence, an understanding of our students, and the sports page on an occasional Friday after work. Not a bad combination, but rare nevertheless.

EDUTOPICS PAGE 3 EDUTOPICS PAGE 2

later with professional learning for all Education staff. This was led by Dr. Adam Saenz, author of “The Power of a Teacher.” Dr. Saenz credits a teacher with his rise from being in a juvenile detention center to holding two doctorates with training at Harvard Medical School and Oxford University. Focusing again on the topic of leadership, we will work this year to build our teachers’ leadership capacity by providing leadership opportunities, creating committees/workgroups to include teaching staff, and providing venues for staff not participating on formal committees to share input and ideas.

We are excited about this school year! We know improved student outcomes require a focus on both academics and behaviors. Our model this year improves on the foundation we have laid, and moves both forward.

The following Education staff received special recognitions by vote from their peers at Convocation:

Richard Pittman: Most Supportive Colleague – Always offers helping hand without being asked.

Robert Anderson: Most Positive Attitude – Always looks on the bright side and helps others to see the silver lining.

Matthew Dodd: Best Team Player – Sees the big picture and works to collaborate with others to accomplish goals.

Martin Burch: School Sage – Exudes wisdom in all areas and offers guidance for challenging situations.

Terrence Hackett: Excellence in Teaching – Goes above

and beyond the call of duty and demonstrates leadership, effective classroom strategies, and unwavering dedication.

3rd-Generation Barber Franklin Harvey Paying It Back With DJJAt the peak of his career as a

third-generation barber, Franklin Harvey and his family owned several barber shops in Virginia, the largest with 26 chairs. He offered all manner of styling, coloring, shampooing, and scalp treatment.

He also was employed by the state Board for Barbers and Cosmetology, where it was often his job to administer the certification tests for those wanting to get into the profession. “I saw so many people fail it,” Harvey recalls. “They obviously weren’t being taught correctly.”

That’s when Harvey decided he could make a difference as a teacher as well as a barber. He answered an ad he saw for a DJJ barbering instructor, got the job, and started the barbering program at Beaumont Juvenile Correctional Center in 2003.

Since that time, 60 residents have earned their barbering certificates under his tutelage, and at least three now operate their own barber shops.

In addition to the satisfaction of helping a young person achieve

a career he may never have considered, Harvey says his greatest reward is seeing parents swell with pride when certificates are awarded.

“It brings great joy to me to know their parents will know that this child will be a success.”

Robert AndersonMost Positive Attitude

Peer Recognition at Convocation

Left: Resident Specialist Michelle Davis gets her hair cut by a resident under instructor Franklin Harvey’s watchful eye. Harvey started DJJ’s barbering program in 2003 and has helped 60 residents get barbering certification.