More than 300 teachers and administrators gathered at the Greenwood High School auditorium to take part in a professional development workshop led by keynote speaker Dr. Lorraine Monroe, founder of the Frederick Douglass Academy in Harlem, N.Y., and author of "Nothing's Impossible."
Instead of teaching their classes Monday, teachers participated in an informative session on developing their professional growth in education.
"Teaching and learning are our primary focus," said Dr. Leslie Daniels, superintendent of the Greenwood public schools.
The workshop, which has been in the making for several years, was attended by teachers from the Greenwood and Leflore County school districts.
"Professional development is the vehicle to improving learning in our school districts. You make the difference," Daniels told a packed house of new and returning teachers.
Monroe's mission in life is to educate the poor kids of society.
Her work has been featured in mass media outlets such as "60 Minutes" and Parade magazine.
"You must have love for the children doing this kind of work," she told teachers.
Schools must realize that children are not just competing with other students locally but are competing with other students across the country, she said.
"You cannot ad-lib excellence; you have to overplan excellence," said Monroe.
Monroe stressed the importance of teachers becoming coaches in their students' lives.
Teachers must discover what is their passion in life and incorporate that passion into their teaching, said Monroe.
The crowd eagerly waited as Monroe gave her philosophy of teaching, called the Monroe Doctrine.
"The purpose of school is to teach all of the students to read, write, think, compute, speak well, love the arts and behave in a socially acceptable way in order to become economically independent contributing members of society," she said.
Said Anita Ware, principal of Claudine Brown Elementary School, "She was a very inspirational speaker. Teachers as well as students would benefit from hers words of wisdom.
