by Delaney Sanders, Baylor PR Senior
For the first year in Midway’s history, educators from around the district are gathering to participate in the Ambassador Program, a training created by the Friends of Texas Public Schools.
The program is designed to help Texas educators to become ambassadors of public education, as well as their own students and fellow educators. Participants include members of the Spirit of Communications Council and Midway Academic Strategic Team– 55 representatives charged with sharing optimism and facts about the district.
Each meeting starts with a tone of positivity, as participants are encouraged to celebrate the successes within each individual campus. In the first Ambassador Program meeting for Midway, participants were asked to name three aspects of the district that they wish others knew.
“As a community, we take care of our own,” listed one group. “We keep finding improved and broader ways to recognize all children for their accomplishments and successes,” said another.
The educators also focused on the many district merits that often go unnoticed. These accomplishments include 11 National Merit Recognitions for the 2017-2018 school year, over 60 offerings in CTE courses for specific Endorsement Plan pathways at Midway High School, over 900 AP tests offered in 2017, and 54 Academic All-State Students.
The Ambassador Program will continue through three trainings, and this pilot session is planned to last until January. The group will continue to identify these campus and district-wide objectives, and take these findings back to their individual classrooms.
The Friends of Texas Public Schools was started by Leslie Milder and her husband, Scott, in 2004 after growing tired of the constantly circulating negative stereotypes associated with Texas public education. The Milder’s were inspired to create Friends of Texas Public Schools to be an organization “that doesn’t invest energy in education reform but rather in celebrating what’s right with our schools,” according the the group’s website.
The Ambassador Program is truly enforcing the “passion behind the hard work” within the education profession, as one participant stated, and will be completed to better support our children and community.
