Mrs. Boyd gleaned a lot of experience through her moves in the district but her heart
wanted to return home. In 2013, she had that chance when Dr. Mark Shanoff moved to
Ocoee Middle School leaving a vacancy at Dillard Street. The superintendent wanted
Dr. Shanoff to introduce her to the office staff but what they didn’t realize was she already knew them well. “On my first day back, I walked into the office carrying a stuffed
dragon my mother had made for me many years before. I was warmly greeted by the
office staff as they asked me what I was doing there. I hugged my dragon and said to
them that I’m home!” We all squealed in delight as they registered what I meant. Dr.
Shanoff came out of his office saying, I guess I don’t need to introduce you after all.”
What he didn’t know was that these women raised me from a baby teacher. They attended my wedding, and now I was finally home.”
Mrs. Boyd takes pride in the fact she is a Florida Native for several generations. Her
5th Great-grandfather was the Governor of Florida during the Civil War. Governor
John Milton has a town in the Panhandle named after him. She also takes Pride in
our Winter Garden community and Dillard Street Elementary. “I know people don’t
like change. Dr. Shanoff was loved and is missed. Our community is loyal to their
principal.
I want to give the community an opportunity to get to know me. I want to be a part of
this community I love. Our community gives a Mayberry feel and Dillard is the hub
of the community. It feels like we are the center of the community because it is a place
the community can come to and feel at home. We sponsor many events to make this
happen.”
When I shared with her the parents’ concerns about “Teaching Students to Test instead of Teaching Students to Educate”, she had an interesting perspective. She said
her school calls their students “Scholars” because we want every one of them to walk
across the stage and receive th Z\