Legacy 2014 South Florida: Education Issue | Page 11

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2014 | AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT BY MIA MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS GROUP TO THE MIAMI HERALD

11BB

Navy Lieutenant Turned Elementary Principal
Believes that “All Roads Lead to Education.”

Deborah A. Peeples, Principal Village Elementary
Sunrise,
FL
..

... The energy that exudes from Deborah
A. Peeples, Principal of Village Elementary School is contagious! She is positive,
upbeat, and optimistic about the future of
each of her students.

She is also a visionary with lots of foresight. Village Elementary is over 40 years
old with a predominantly African American
student body and a large Haitian Creole
population located in Sunrise, FL. The percentage of students that are on free and/or
reduced lunch is over 97%, making it a Title
1 school, meaning that they receive extra
funding from the federal government.
Ms. Peeples has prior military experience. She served active duty in the Army
and is currently a Lieutenant in the Navy
Reserves. After being honorably discharged
from the military, Ms. Peeples worked for
the Broward Sheriff’s Office, while simultaneously going back to school to pursue a
degree in Business, but she says that God
had a different path for her life. She found
herself in teaching students, and then she
worked up the ranks to becoming a principal of an elementary school, a job that she
absolutely loves!
As Principal, Ms. Peeples believes that
all roads lead to education and as such, all
programs at her school are tied to academics. She says that right now, she and her
teachers are focused on the new Florida
Standards and perfecting their teaching
practices to increase student achievement.

Currently, the school has implemented a
rigorous curriculum designed to galvanize
students to think critically and logically.
Ms. Peeples is particularly proud of the
implementation of the S.T.A.M.P. Program,
an initiative at her school, which is a full
day program for students in grades three
through five. S.T.A.M.P. is an acronym that
stands for Science, Technology, Arts and
Mathematics Preparatory Program. It
incorporates a S.T.E.M. curriculum and a
component of the program is modeled
after the military.
Additional aspects of the program
include a focus on leadership, discipline,
teamwork and community service. The
program has proven to be successful and
has received rave reviews from parents and
teachers. While in the program, children
are challenged academically, they participate in hands-on activities and they attend
field trips for extended learning opportunities. The students are currently planning a
field trip to Washington, DC.
The S.T.A.M.P. Program actually meets
the students where they are; tapping into
their individual learning styles, and exposing them to varied experiences, making
them more confident while learning. The

program also focuses on students that
may have been a prior behavior problem
and/or have not had academic prior success.
Ms. Peeples knows the importance of
being disciplined. Therefore, she realizes
that it is essential that every child must
learn regardless of the situation in which
they find themselves. She strongly believes that learning will not take place until
misconduct has diminished. Therefore,
in the program, structure is established,
the foundation is laid, then the learning
process is ready to take place.
Ms. Peeples is a proponent of the Arts
and strongly believes in exposing children to the world and allowing them to
find their innate gifts. As such, she has
instituted several clubs at the school, including Chorus, Glee, Chess, Photography
and Journalism. Additionally, she believes
that parents must be involved in their
child’s education. She strongly believes
in open communication with parents and
is an advocate of hosting various parental
involvement initiatives. When asked what
is one thing she wants the public to know
about Village Elementary School, she said,
“It Take a Village to Raise a Child!”

Atlantic Tech College: An Alternative to a Bright Future
By Dr. Mia Y. Merritt
For over 25 years, Robert B. Crawford
has had an indelible presence at Atlantic
Technical College (ATC). As ATC’s current
director, Mr. Crawford has worked at gaining exposure to ATC and ensuring that their
students receive a quality and meaningful
education that will help them be successful in the competitive and technologically
advanced, fast-moving workplace. Mr.
Crawford has been in education all of his
adult life starting