It's OK to Be Smart: A Culture
of Success and Respect

by Jane Miller White, Ph.D, Professor of Mathematics in 2010

Foreward

Persistence really does pay off big time. When I first became involved with St. Petersburg College, they were in the process of developing a four-year program for teacher education. They amassed a great team work with the new and first Dean of the College, Dr. Sally Naylor. She raved about the caliber of her team, especially about the person who was to oversee the Math Education students. Dr. June White has been a favored Professor of Mathematics for many years at St. Pete College and when the opportunity arose, she delightedly took on the challenge to train teachers to inspire a love of mathematics within themselves and their students.

I also had a hand in helping develop the curriculum courses for their program and served as a part-time instructor where this amazing woman reached her future students through a manner that was creative and rational as well as compassionate with high expectations. I knew that I wanted her wisdom to shine on our school for our students. She just had that knowing way about her.

Our Math Department at Independent Day School has a team of teachers who are excellent, who have an abundance of training, who often train others, and who are very confident in their abilities. In my opinion, one of the best ways that the "best get better" is by learning from someone else who has achieved so much already and knows the subject on a level that defies minimalist thinking. So every year, I would call Dr. White and ask her if she would come and work with us. When she officially retired, the college still asked for her time. Well, one day when I called her during the summer of 2008, she actually said, "Yes." I was ecstatic because she agreed to come every Wednesday for the whole year! I told our Math team that she had carte blanche into all the rooms at any time so that she could evaluate us and make suggestions and recommendations that would insure that we were aligned with what we say and what we do.

Little did I know or expect that her time at IDS would turn into a book describing her experience. As Dr. White began making notes and observations, she seemed to become as excited as if she had been mining for gold and suddenly found gold everywhere. In the spring of 2008-09, she began to applaud teacher efforts. I signed and thought, "Oh well, even the 'best getting better' model needs to include well-earned praise." The teachers deserve great credit for openly embracing Dr. White's presence in their rooms. And it is to the credit of Dr. White that she could come into a room and meld into the surroundings so that the students went on with their work and the teachers quickly forgot there was someone else in the room to observe. A beautiful writer, she just seemed to capture what it means to be a school that is "All About Kids." We are forever grateful and honor her class, wisdom and caring for the future.

Dr. Joyce Burick Swarzman,
Headmaster
Independent Day School-Corbett Campus
Tampa, Florida