Transcript
[Bill] Howard County Public School System is really renowned for its communities. I don't have to look far to find someone who wants to support public education.
[Rashmi] My staff show up. They are in the hallway. They're not behind their computers.
[Erin] I've had teachers who blended the academic part of learning also with the human part of it to try to get me to learn and to explore new things that I thought were interesting.
[Miles] My first year here, I just saw teachers talking to students about things that weren't necessarily education-based, and I saw that change the way they were in the classroom. And that student who came in, and may not have been ready for education, fourth quarter come around, they getting excited about doing poetry and excited about doing equations.
[Melissa] It's a great culture. People get along very well. We have excellent discourse.
[Bill] We are absolutely committed to making sure that your dreams are coming true. As a professional, some of our very best teachers are career changers, people that left college with something other than teaching on their mind.
[Rashmi] Howard County actually helped me a lot. I was not a teacher, I was not certified. Howard County hired me conditionally as an ESL teacher. So I finished my master's, I became an ESL teacher. I became an assistant principal, and now it's my first year as a principal. There are definitely different positions available for teacher leaders, which I think is a huge part about our success here.
[Melissa] My job is to make sure that everybody's on the same page, and we're sharing the ownership. Whatever it is, we're gonna come together, and our job is to collaboratively problem-solve and come up with what's gonna work best for students.
[Bill] In Howard County, we have over 6,500 students that receive special education services, and that requires us to pivot and that also requires us to hire and retain talented special educators and support staff to meet the evolving needs of our students. We need staff who are willing to learn, so we train them and we provide them with professional learning and continue support that they can evolve and grow to meet our students' needs.
[Laura] I really work hard to cultivate a relationship with my kids where they feel safe. Making mistakes, they feel safe expressing themselves, they feel safe taking risk.
[Rashmi] This county will welcome anyone, but for anyone who is hesitant, try, because all you need to be is a good person and kind to children, and then we are able to teach you those skills.
[Bill] We are building the future. We are the one career that is the origin story for all other careers. I knew that if I could make a difference in just one student's life, that that would be enough for me, and I know that it'll be enough for you.