A partly cloudy day in Lexington turned bright when we met Leigh Allison from Garrison Elementary—a teacher facing her first year with an ELL student and embracing the challenge with heart and strategy. Lee opens up about the early spark that led her into teaching (yes, stuffed-animal classrooms), the power of feeling known at school, and why belonging is the foundation for any real academic climb.
Website: spotlight4success.com
Episode Transcript
Welcome to Spotlight for Success by American Book
Company.
I'm Devin Pentosa, your host.
We are here at the ContinuousImprovement Conference in Partly
Cloudy, Lexington, Kentucky.
It's a beautiful day outside,and we're enjoying everything
going on here at the conference.
I am here with my special guest,Lee Allison.
Lee Allison joins us fromGarrison Elementary, and we're
(00:30):
so happy that you can join ustoday here at uh at the Kentucky
Conference.
SPEAKER_01 (00:33):
Yes, absolutely.
Me too.
SPEAKER_00 (00:35):
All right.
So, Lee Allison, can you tell mea bit about what brings you here
to the conference?
SPEAKER_01 (00:41):
My district actually um reached out to me and asked
me to attend.
Um this year I have an ELLstudent.
SPEAKER_00 (00:50):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (00:51):
Um, and there have been a lot of different sessions
to kind of give some guidancewith that.
This is our first time having anELL student.
Oh.
So just um helping prepare me tobe the best that I can be for
her.
SPEAKER_00 (01:05):
Oh, that's awesome.
That's so good.
Uh, can you tell me a bit aboutuh your educational journey?
Um what made you uh kind of goin the direction of becoming a
teacher?
SPEAKER_01 (01:16):
Absolutely.
So I was the kid, um, when I waslittle, I would come home and I
would line up all of my stuffedanimals and teach to them.
So I was kind of a natural,natural-born teacher.
Um, but other than that, justthe influence teachers had on me
inspired me to do the same forother um kids in my community.
(01:36):
Show the love that they showedme.
I knew that I had my family, butalso having that whole school
that I knew cared about me,about my education, it really um
influenced me to give that toother students as well.
SPEAKER_00 (01:51):
Oh, that's wonderful.
Thank you for watching Spotlightfor Success.
I am Devin Pentosi, the chiefoperating officer of American
Book Company.
We are located here in ourheadquarters in Woodstock,
Georgia.
All of our materials are printedin the USA.
We have course books, ebooks andonline testing in grades in
(02:16):
mathematics, LA and socialstudies.
These materials are all designedto help students achieve higher
scores on their state specificand high status assessment.
We guarantee score improvement.
You can get free samples of ourmaterials either in print or in
(02:36):
electronic formats at abc12.com.
We look forward to hearing fromyou.
And uh so uh so where did you goto university?
SPEAKER_01 (02:47):
Um, Kentucky Christian University in Grayson,
Kentucky.
Oh wow, so not too far from nojust about 30, 40 minutes.
Um, so very local.
I I wanted to stay in mycommunity throughout the whole
process.
SPEAKER_00 (03:01):
That is so wonderful.
And uh what grades are youteaching?
SPEAKER_01 (03:04):
I teach third and fourth grade reading.
SPEAKER_00 (03:06):
Oh, okay, that's great.
And uh I understand you've useduh American Book Company
materials before ABC.
SPEAKER_01 (03:12):
We started using them last year and I really
enjoy them.
The kids love them.
Um the best thing about thebooks are they are rigorous and
they are formatted like the KSA,so it gives them that
opportunity to practice um andprepare for the big test.
SPEAKER_00 (03:30):
Oh, that's wonderful.
Um, and uh, do you have anythingyou'd like to share with the uh
continuing uh continuousimprovement conference attendees
today?
SPEAKER_01 (03:41):
Um honestly, I hope everyone's having a great time
because I am.
I've learned so much, and youshould definitely look at
ordering these resources fromthem because they truly are
amazing and help the studentsgrow.
SPEAKER_00 (03:55):
Oh, that's awesome.
Thank you once again, LeeAllison with uh Garrison
Elementary.
Thank you for joining us today.
SPEAKER_01 (04:02):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
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