September 5, 2024 • 46 mins
Welcome to Season 3, Episode 1 of the No Frills Teacher Podcast! In this season premiere host Joe Camps is joined by his special guest Marshall Bower, President and CEO of the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools, Inc. Join us as we delve into the impactful work of the foundation, its history, and its mission to bridge the gap between the business community and educators. Marshall shares insightful stories about the foundation's programs, including the prestigious Golden Apple Teacher Recognition Program and the innovative Golden Futures initiative aimed at addressing the national teacher shortage. Learn how the foundation's efforts are making a significant difference in the lives of educators and students in Southwest Florida. This episode is a must-listen for anyone passionate about education, community involvement, and the future of our schools. Don't miss out on this inspiring conversation that highlights the importance of supporting our teachers and enriching the educational landscape. Interested in learning more about The Foundation for Lee County Public Schools, Inc. visit www.leeschoolfoundation.org
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the No Frills Teacher podcast.
I'm your host, Joe Camps, and this is Season 3, Episode 1, Enhance,
Enrich, Excel, with my very special guest, Marshall Bauer.
Marshall Bauer, who is the president and CEO of the Foundation for Lee County
Public Schools, Inc. Marshall, welcome to the show.
(00:23):
Hey, Joe. Welcome to my office. Thank you for inviting me.
Oh, well, I am familiar with your office from, you know, all the times with
being down at the Foundation's building in Fort Myers down in southwest Florida.
And I got to say, you know, once again, thank you so much.
So let me kind of explain for those that are listening out there.
(00:44):
If you're living under a rock, tonight is actually the start of the NFL football season.
And there's this team called the Kansas City Chiefs that are playing.
And I was thinking to myself, well, how can I compete with Taylor Swift and the Chiefs?
Well, naturally, Marshall Bauer came to mind.
So I have to kind of run you as my guest on this episode with Gettifeld tonight.
(01:06):
But I feel good about my chances of viewership and listening.
So anyway, so Marshall, once again, I had mentioned you're the president and
CEO of the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools, Inc. in Southwest Florida.
And for those that have listened to this podcast before, I've had previous guests
(01:27):
that also have ties to the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools, Inc.
Through the Golden Apple program, and we're going to get into all of that.
But like you and I had previously discussed prior to this episode starting,
we talk so often about the Foundation and how we as teachers have so much admiration
(01:48):
for what the foundation does for educators, but I felt that it will come better
from you kind of talking about and sharing with our audience what exactly is
the foundation for Lee County Public Schools, your role as the president and CEO.
If you gave us a little background on both.
Absolutely, Joe. My pleasure. And I've never been compared to Taylor Swift before.
(02:12):
It's a first. First time for everything. As part of my job being fundraising,
I'd love to have that outreach.
Yeah, it's my pleasure to talk to you about the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools.
We have been in existence since
1986 when a concerned
group of local business leaders and
(02:33):
community leaders got with the school board of Lee County and the then superintendent
at the time and talked about starting a foundation with the understanding that
we would be the bridge between the business community and the community in general
with what's going on with our educators and with our students.
Because obviously in the business community, then in the business community
(02:57):
to this very day, realize that they have a definite stake in what's going on
in our public school system.
And the reason for that is you should just jump out at anybody,
but I'll lay them out from what I think about it.
Number one, the product, if you will, of the Lee County School District are
our students when they graduate. They're going to become the future workforce of this community.
(03:23):
They're going to become the future leaders of this community.
And so it is important that that link exists between the educators,
the students and the community, because if they operate in a vacuum,
there is a disconnect between what goes on during school and what goes on during the rest of life.
(03:43):
And so the foundation was formed by that group way back in 1986.
And the very first program that they came to was the Golden Apple Teacher Recognition Program.
Now we have in excess of 20, 25 different programs, but that's still one of our main programs.
We're a not-for-profit organization, a 501c3.
(04:05):
We are very connected to the school district in that we work hand in glove with
you educators, you teachers, your principals,
our students, to make sure that we're doing what we need to do to help make
sure you guys, I love your tagline, enrich and excel with what you're doing,
(04:25):
because then the whole benefit goes to the community.
And we all know how important it is for a community to be thinking progressively
about how we're going to tackle such things as workforce,
how we're going to tackle such things as all the societal problems that we see
coming up because, and you've heard me say this, Joe, I cannot think of a more
(04:47):
important job anywhere than our teachers.
It used to be that I'd say they're one of the most important professions.
I no longer say that. And this is coming from a lawyer.
Before there were lawyers and doctors and architects and mechanics and all those
other professions out there, there was a teacher that inspired us.
(05:08):
So that's why we think it's so important.
Well, that's perfectly said. And I got to say with you, as an educator,
if I were to write a book, the title would be overworked and undervalued.
And I really think a lot of people feel that.
And personally speaking, I know from other educators around our county,
and I know there are similar programs out there in other districts and states,
(05:31):
but we need advocates. Advocates, educators need advocates, just like we advocate for our students.
We need advocates for us to shine that spotlight on us or on education in general.
And I really do from the bottom of my heart say that nobody does that truly.
My 20 years of teaching like the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools.
(05:53):
Well, and I totally appreciate that. That makes me feel good because that's
really one of the main things I see as my board members doing as well as the
staff here at the foundation.
You know, it's sometimes said that when we reach out, especially if an educator
reaches out to decision makers and says,
what you just said, we're overworked, we're undervalued, so forth and so on,
(06:16):
there's a vested interest and that may or may not be heard like you want it to be heard.
But if it's heard by the business community and.
Who's making the community, you know, go forward in a very positive way,
it has hopefully some weight to it.
And no business person is going to stop talk to anybody and advocate if they
(06:37):
don't know what the issues are, if they don't know how they're being responded to.
And again, that's why we engage you guys, you being the teachers with our business community.
Well said. Now, you had mentioned about being an
attorney all you know so how did
you wind up working with the foundation you know
in your current role as president and ceo from previously
(06:58):
being an attorney all right kind of a different route in terms of how most people
get involved in not-for-profit organizations especially as i'm the president
and ceo so i am as i'd like to call it a reformed lawyer. I still have my license.
I was a prosecutor for almost 20 years.
(07:19):
And in that position, I was in charge of legal operations and community affairs.
And I tried the most heinous of crimes throughout this five-county area here in Southwest Florida.
And I'm a true believer in trying to prevent things and try and intervene appropriately
(07:39):
as opposed to just holding people accountable and spending more money.
And what I mean by that is we know that there are ways to help intervene and
to help prevent bad decision making.
I saw for years and years and years as a prosecutor, the results of people making bad decisions.
(08:01):
And those bad decisions can not only hurt them, they hurt the community,
and they hurt all of us in the pocketbook.
It's much more expensive to build gales.
It's much more expensive to build prisons. It's much more expensive to build detention centers.
And I could go on and on and on than it is to prevent and help work with our
(08:22):
greatest asset, in my opinion, our young people, our students,
so that they have good decision-making tools and make good decisions.
So as a prosecutor, I would always look around in the community to get involved
in those kinds of organizations that are doing just what I talked about,
offering good solutions, They're data-based.
(08:43):
They're best evidence types of programs.
And I came across one called Take Stock in Children way back when that's run
by the foundation here in Lee County and got involved.
To make a long story short, I became a board member of this organization in
the 90s. I'm aging myself.
And when I went into private practice and decided to sell that,
(09:07):
I was going to become one of those people that in their 40s got to retire or at least semi-retire.
But I put my name in to do this and I was chosen to do this.
And I agreed to do it for a couple of years. That was in 2006.
And the reason I keep doing what I'm doing is because, quite frankly,
I love it. I have never met a more hardworking, dedicated group of professionals
(09:33):
than the teachers such as yourself that I get the opportunity to work with.
And I have always been interested in advocating for what I call our greatest asset, our children.
I do that through a number of other organizations as well as the foundation
because it's not trite to me.
It's not just a saying to me. Children are our future.
(09:55):
I'm in my 60s. I was raised in the 60s and 70s.
We thought we were making a lot of progress and making the world go forward in a very positive way.
The end result, at least in my opinion, is we failed.
And we now got to really start all over again. And the best place to start is
with our young people coming out and offering the great solutions that they can come up with.
(10:20):
Well said. Now, I do have to give you a shout out real quick,
Marshall, that you recently were recognized from the Community Foundation for
one of being the top 30 nonprofit CEOs for 2024.
So congratulations with that. Well, thank you.
Well deserved. And there's no slowing down for you.
I could tell. And you had mentioned originally about the first Golden Apple recognition program.
(10:45):
And as preparing for this episode and doing a little bit of homework,
really, I think educators, a lot of times, even within our own county,
when we hear the foundation for Lee County Public Schools, typically,
maybe I'm wrong, and please correct me if I'm wrong,
Golden Apples, usually, I feel, one of the first things that comes to mind.
(11:07):
But there is so much more what you and the foundation are doing for not only
the teachers in the community of Southwest Florida, but also for the students.
And you had mentioned about to take stock in children. I mean,
going down the list, I have pages of notes, back to school supply drive,
the twins community fund through the Southwest Florida community grant.
(11:30):
You have an upcoming FAFSA completion event for students.
So what is it that keeps the foundation moving forward and being so progressive with these programs.
I have to give a lot of credit to a very involved board of directors working
with myself and my staff on seeing the issues that can be resolved.
(11:52):
We know there's answers to them. And just being gung-ho and wanting to go forward with them.
So, you know, for example, Joe, everything that we do here is meant –,
to help our students succeed in life, whatever route they take,
whether that's graduating from high school and going right into the workplace,
(12:13):
or it's going on to get technical or trades training, or it's going on to college or university.
So that's what our programs do.
When you say we do so much for teachers and students, the reason why we do so
much for teachers is because they do so much for students.
And so when we can affect a teacher in a very positive way, multiply that by
(12:38):
the number of students that that teacher touches, it's just an effective way
of doing what our mission is here.
And then, of course, working directly with students to help them make good decisions is the other way.
So our programs, in one way or another, either through working directly with
teachers or through working directly with our students.
(12:59):
Hopefully, the positive outcome is that we've got successful young people that
we're turning out into our community to make us a better community as we move forward.
And I love that we have that partnership, us educators with the community members,
the businesses within the community, especially down here in Southwest Florida.
Speaking about the community, you talk about the board and everyone.
(13:23):
I've had the opportunity to meet many of the board members. I think all of the
board members at some point over the past few years for the foundation.
But you also involved with many sponsors within the community,
Suncoast, Schools Credit Union, NBC2.
And I know I'm not naming all of them, but in your opinion, do you feel that
(13:44):
having these relationships with these sponsors not not only continues to enhance
the profession of education,
but like you said, it ties back into the future of our community,
our students eventually going
out into the workforce and maybe now having ties to these businesses?
Yeah, absolutely. So our partners, sponsors, are our partners.
(14:07):
The reason why they are sponsors is because they understand and recognize the
importance of our mission.
And so, you know, many of those partners.
Also benefit from the fact that they sponsor us and that they employ these teacher
students. Some of them are met through our programs.
They get great ideas. I know you've engaged with many of our board members and
(14:30):
our sponsors over the years.
They're hearing from you firsthand what are some of the issues that you're dealing
with in the classroom and that our students are dealing with and how we as a
community can help make that a little bit easier for whomever it is that is trying to succeed.
Because quite frankly, if our students succeed and if our teachers succeed,
(14:51):
our community succeeds.
And I think our sponsors, and we have many of them, thankfully.
Understand that their limited amount of dollars, and it's not just sponsorship
through funding, it's sponsorship through sweat equity.
It's sponsorship through getting involved and talking with the teachers and
talking with the students and mentoring the students and mentoring the teachers.
(15:15):
There's just so many ways to get involved.
And we are blessed as a community that we have many business sponsors who feel the same way.
I completely agree with you 100% with that.
And having the opportunity to speak to the partners, these businesses and these sponsors,
I think it helps us as educators share a little insight into what's happening
(15:40):
in our lives, in our classrooms, with our students in our schools,
that like you had mentioned a little bit earlier, that perhaps without these partnerships,
our community members,
you know, our stakeholders, if you will, really wouldn't be aware of what is
happening within the fall walls of a classroom or within a school,
and sometimes the place that educators face and the challenges.
(16:04):
Absolutely. You know, it's interesting to me when, you know,
many of our Our sponsors and or our volunteers are people around my age group.
You know, they're older.
They've been out of school for a long time.
And, you know, we all think we're experts on education because we all went to
school. Well, that's just crazy.
(16:25):
The world changes constantly. The things that you deal with in a classroom change constantly.
You know, it used to be a time when a lot of our classrooms were uniform. form.
I'm speaking to the choir with regard to you. You know this.
You could have 30 kids in a classroom with completely different backgrounds,
with completely different issues, and you're expected to deal with all 25, 30 of them at one time.
(16:51):
This gives the business community the ability and the community leaders to see
that and understand that.
You know, I remember when I was a practicing lawyer for a long time,
I would always hear about how you teachers reach into your own pocket and you buy all those things.
Well, you know, I kind of took that with a grain of salt.
But now that I've learned from talking to you all and seeing it, what teachers do is just.
(17:18):
Above reproach. If anybody ever wants to cut down teachers, they're going to
have to deal with me these days because I know what you're doing.
I know how dedicated you are in doing it.
And it's just not the same as it was when I went to school.
So, you know, it gives the ability for all of these people to be on a kind of
a level playing field, if you will,
(17:39):
in terms of understanding what our educators are dealing with and what our students
are dealing with these days, as opposed to, you know, back in the 60s and 70s
when I was going through school.
And it's not just what, you know, we're going through as far as the work,
you know, being overworked.
Financially, the foundation does a fantastic job really with setting up teachers
(18:03):
to be successful when the year starts.
And for example, the back to school drive, I was one of the district trainers
for Lee County Schools for the new teacher training camp this summer.
And all I remember one of the days was that at the foundation's building,
you guys were having your new teacher education resource center kind of shopping.
(18:26):
And everyone in my class, my session, was talking about how they couldn't wait
to go over to the foundation and check it out and get these resources to set
up and not necessarily have to spend all that money out of their pocket.
And just that goes a long way.
We see you. We as educators see what the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools
(18:48):
is doing to help support us, not just help us through recognition and through classroom grants.
You could get grants.
There's how about the Golden Futures. Can you talk a little bit about other
ways that you're helping teachers financially? Sure.
Absolutely. So the classroom grants that you bring up, we offer it every year
where teachers can apply for grants to do unique hands-on learning types of
(19:13):
exercises with their students, if you will.
They can apply for anywhere from 500 or group grants up to 1500.
It gives the opportunity. Teachers are so amazing to me in terms of what they
want to do with their students, thinking outside the box. How do we get our
students to learn this concept?
And you don't always just do it the old-fashioned way.
(19:36):
In fact, I hope you don't, because hands-on learning, to me,
is probably the best way we all learn.
And giving the opportunity for teachers to think outside the box,
to explore different ways of getting the attention and engagement of their students
is a win-win for everybody.
The Golden Futures program that you brought up, you know, this is one of the
(19:57):
ones I really love because it was born out of our Golden Apple Teacher Recognition
Program by, I believe, the 2013 class of Golden Apple recipients.
You know, all of our recipients, once a Golden Apple, always a Golden Apple,
you become a member of the Academy of Teachers like you are.
This is a unique group of really, gosh, just teachers that want to share their
(20:22):
wealth and their knowledge with one another,
that love what they do and continue to reach out to get that word out,
such as what you're doing right now with this podcast,
Joe. So you're an academy teacher.
You've been doing all these things that you don't have to do by contract with the school district.
You do it because you love to do it. So the Golden Futures program was a program
(20:45):
that really addresses the whole issue of how do we get more people and more
students when they're in high school interested in wanting to go to college to become teachers.
It's an issue that this country faces in terms of We've got more and more of
our graduating seniors not wanting to go into being teachers because of the
(21:08):
atmosphere that we sometimes find ourselves in.
We find the pay and the, I'll just go ahead and say it, sometimes the abuse
they get in the classroom from families and students.
That's not, you know, as pervasive as it may sound, but it's an issue.
And we really need to recruit and start growing our own. So the Golden Futures,
(21:30):
a play on Golden Apple, is a program that they dreamt up that we implemented here.
It was with the idea, let's start identifying people in the Lee County School
District, students in the Lee County School District, I should say,
who want to go into education and help them along with that.
So each year, we try to recruit students by getting the word out through the
(21:54):
teaching academies and through you Golden Apple teachers and through all of
the other teachers and counselors in the district that are interested in doing
this to get students to apply for that.
They go through a kind of a similar type process that the teachers went through
in Golden Apple and that they have to fill out an application.
They go to a formal interview, and then we choose them.
(22:16):
We reached out here at the foundation and partnered with the two colleges that
turn out teachers locally, that being Florida Southwestern State College and
Florida Gulf Coast University. And so we have agreements with both of them.
And when a student is selected to go into that program, they benefit in multiple ways.
(22:37):
One, if they abide by the terms of the contract, which says that they're going to get a minimum GPA.
Meet regularly with our fellow teachers and the Academy of Teachers if they
have questions and need some mentoring going on.
That if they do all of that and they graduate, we're going to pay for that four
years with the caveat that they're going to come back here and commit to at
(23:01):
least four years in the Lee County School District.
We think if we can continue to grow that type of program,
we'll have our own, if you will, homegrown teachers here in Lee County that
will at least partially help with
this whole issue of teacher shortage and teacher retention. attention.
This is something that we're desperately in need of, like you have said about a teacher shortage.
(23:24):
It's just not a local crisis. It's a national crisis.
And to have a program like the Golden Futures, I think of the many amazing programs
and initiatives from the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools,
I really do believe that this would be, and I hate to kind of say most important, but it's on the top.
It's near the top, I think, not to devalue any of the other programs with all
(23:46):
through respect, but we as educators are desperately in need of new teachers
coming into this profession.
I personally work with a recipient of the Golden Futures over at Tengweta Elementary School.
We were having a conversation one day and it was about Golden Apple and it turned
(24:06):
into, well, I was a Golden Futures recipient and here she is going strong as a fourth grade teacher,
a product of Grow Your Own through the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools
and the partnership that you have with the local universities.
Yeah. And you can't see my face, but you just put a big smile on it because
that is just such a great outcome that,
(24:28):
you know, it's important to address that issue because the worse it gets,
the worse it's going to get, if that makes sense.
If you as a teacher don't have the ability to have a planning period,
for example, because there's a teacher shortage, everybody suffers.
If you as a teacher all of a sudden have twice the amount of students in your
(24:51):
classroom, really, where's the teaching going on?
Everybody suffers. buffers we really need to
start promoting this idea of teaching is
like i just got done saying the most important profession there
is and what a great way to make a change in
in the future of your community than by
helping to mold our students into positive
(25:13):
productive citizens of our
community and again i know i sound like the biggest
cheerleader in the world and i consider myself off to do that for teachers
but we need it and for
those that are listening and i could attest you know
personally that marshall really is the real deal when i say that he's an advocate
(25:34):
and not just you all of your the employees of the foundation of the county public
schools the board of directors the community sponsors partners like i have never
seen a group of people that value
educators as much as you all do.
And you are our cheerleaders, and we do need that.
And like I previously mentioned, we as educators see this, and we know this,
(25:58):
and we recognize this, which is going to lead me, segue into a little bit about recognition.
And I can't have you on here without circling back to the Golden Apple program,
because nominations are currently open for For educators, you had mentioned
about the Golden Futures stemming from that class, you said 2013.
If I'm correct, of the Golden Apple Academy of Teachers.
(26:20):
Can you tell us a little bit more about the actual Golden Apple program?
Because I know it's different in different counties and different states.
Some people think you're just getting some sort of award or a trophy,
but it's so much more. more personally, the relationships that I have built and made.
And these are people through the Golden Apple Program,
(26:41):
through the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools, Inc., that were some that
were strangers who became colleagues and peers who became just great personal close friends of mine.
And it was all through the networking and this opportunity.
It's really changed the trajectory of my career and in some aspects, my personal life.
(27:02):
And really, it all started from the Golden Apple. So if you don't mind,
Marshall, can you share a little bit more about this, the nomination process?
What, you know, from beginning to end, where we start and where we end in April at the banquet?
Absolutely. And it's my pleasure to do that because it is the very first program
we started here and it is one of the most profound.
And I think that not everybody really realizes what's involved with it.
(27:27):
So I'm happy to do that because when we're talking about teacher retention and
trying to draw people into the teaching profession, this program hits it on
all cylinders, in my opinion. So as you said, it just started.
It starts at the beginning of every school year where we get out the nomination
forms in various ways to as many people as we can in the community.
(27:50):
So this is not a program where we go to the principals necessarily and say,
tell us who your best teachers are.
This is a program that goes right to your constituency, your students and their families.
And while we do get nominations from all kinds of different people,
sometimes your fellow Fellow teachers nominate you, sometimes principals nominate
(28:12):
you, sometimes counselors and other administrators.
The vast majority of our nominations come in from students and or their families,
students being the number one.
The number of nominations tells me just how important our teachers are to our community.
So last year, we received over 3,000 nominations in the County School District.
(28:33):
As you know, this is not an easy type of program to go through.
And I completely understand why some teachers in some years will say,
no, I'm just not doing this or this isn't my bag. And that is fine.
That doesn't mean they're not a golden apple teacher.
It does mean that they've just made that decision. But I'm thankful because
(28:55):
you know this, when I send out the letter to all of the nominated teachers,
I say, someone, probably your student, took the time to nominate you.
So at least consider applying for it. So the first part is the nomination process.
We draw up nomination forms and send them all or draw them up.
We have them printed and send them all out to all over the district.
(29:15):
We put it in the local newspaper that they can clip out and use as a nomination form.
We send it out now online so anybody can just make copies of it or even do it online.
Multiple ways to do it. Once the nominations come in, and that's going to be,
I think, the 20th of September is the cutoff date,
the next process is for me to then get in touch with all of those nominated
(29:38):
teachers and say what I just said. Somebody nominated you. Here's an application.
We'd love for you to apply for this. And that's a shortened version of what I say.
But that goes out. And last year, we had over 300 teachers take the time to
fill out the application. The application changes every year,
so it can't be one where you just push the button every year.
(29:59):
You've got to be thinking about what you're saying.
We change it up based on the input from the Golden Apple Selection Committee,
which I should tell you from the very get-go are community members,
business community members, retired community members.
They're from all different kinds of fields. We don't say we want educators judging educators.
(30:20):
We want this to be a community project where there are different kinds of backgrounds
and different kinds of ways of
thinking about things come together in a committee. And it always works.
The cream rises to the top, as I like to say, when when it gets to that point.
So the nominations nominated people get a letter and with an attached application,
(30:41):
if they choose to go forward. Ford, great.
Last year, we had, as I said, over 300.
Once we get those applications in, they go to the 12 members of the Golden Apple Selection Committee.
They review them and they rank them. And it's one of the hardest jobs in the world.
And they'll tell me that year after year when they start this process going,
(31:02):
I don't know if I can do this next year.
And then at the end of the process, they go, oh, my God, I got to do this again.
And the reason for that is they get to know you guys and they fall in love with you all.
So they fill out the application. It goes to the committee.
They rank them. The top 100 are the teachers that we are going to be honoring that year.
(31:24):
And a lot of people don't know that. They think it goes down to six and that's who we honor.
They're the six that we are representative of all the teachers that we make
a big deal about at the end.
But we invite the 70 teachers of distinction and the 30 finalists to many,
many events throughout the year. They're honored with a social at our partner
(31:44):
Chico's headquarters here at the beginning of the year. They're honored.
The 30 finalists are honored with an announcement at our office.
We have various other get togethers with the business community,
such as the McDonald's breakfast, one of our other sponsors.
So a lot of ways for what you and I just talked about earlier,
really, this is engaging the community with what's going on with our teachers
(32:08):
and giving that opportunity for that interchange of ideas,
that talking things out so that everybody's on the same page of the book when
we're talking about public education.
So as I said, it gets narrowed down to the 100.
70 of them are called our teachers of distinction. The top 30 are called our
Golden Apple finalists.
(32:29):
They will be the ones that will go on further in the process.
So the next step is all 12 members of our Golden Apple selection committee go
visit the classrooms unannounced of all of the 30 finalists over a few-month period.
They observe what they're doing in the classroom. They observe,
you know, how they interact with their students.
(32:51):
They see the love of learning going on. All of those things that as a community,
you don't necessarily get the opportunity to go in a classroom and see.
Then the third part of it is a formal, and it's nerve-wracking to some people,
and you probably remember this, Joe, a formal interview with the 12 members
(33:11):
of the selection committee over a two-day period.
60% of the final calculation, if you will, to determine who the six recipients
are going to be, 60% of that is through the classroom observations,
and 40% of it is based on the final interview that they have.
Based on all of that, we come up with the six top finalists and my favorite
(33:34):
part of the whole program. Some think it's the banquet.
It is definitely a thing I love going to the banquet and wearing my penguin
suit and having a really formal night and it's aired on TV locally. That's wonderful.
But my best part is getting to surprise the teachers, the six recipients in the classroom.
(33:54):
And it's my favorite part because I'm bringing a whole busload of business leaders and the media.
And we just bust in the classroom with the TV cameras rolling and the newspapers
flashing their picture taking.
And you get to see the kids reaction. And that's why that's my favorite part,
because it's truly I love it. I remember when we busted into your classroom, the kids yell, we won.
(34:21):
It's not my teacher. That's right. 100% is exactly what they yell.
And that just tells you what a learning situation you got going in there because
the students are feeling as one with the teacher. And I just love that.
So that's my favorite part. But the next part is then we start doing things
(34:43):
where we have you all come together and meeting with the community and different
socials and that kind of thing. And then it ends.
I shouldn't say it ends. But the next part is the banquet. And we invite the
70 teachers of distinction.
We obviously are honoring the six Golden Apple recipients. They're on stage.
But also in that audience, we invite all of the prior Golden Apple recipients who come every year.
(35:05):
Many of the other educators and the business sponsors in the business community,
6,800 people come together for a black tie event to shine the light on the spotlight of teaching.
And it's quite a tender evening in terms of we have students,
again, this is my favorite part about the banquet, who do the introduction of the teachers.
And we've had students as young as four and five years old getting up and doing it.
(35:29):
We've had kids with special needs getting up there and doing it.
And it's usually one of those points where there's a lot of laughing and there's
a lot of crying, happy tears going on when the stories of the teacher are being
told through the eyes of their student.
And then we get to hear from you wonderful six recipients and your philosophy
and teaching and what you go through as a teacher.
(35:50):
And again, there's usually a lot of laughing and a lot of crying and a very
happy way going on with that.
And then we end the evening with a nice big dance so everybody's all happy.
But that's not the last part of it, as you know, Joe.
The last part of it happens over the summer where we put on our Collegium for
the Advancement of Education.
So the Golden Apple Teacher Recognition Program tries to hit on all cylinders.
(36:14):
We try to make sure that the business community is engaged, that the community
leaders are engaged, that our students and their families are engaged,
that there's engagement between those groups with each other,
and teacher development.
So the two final things I'll talk about is you guys, and you said it already,
you join and meet each other. You become lifelong friends.
(36:38):
You talk to one another. You network with one another. You share best practices with one another.
It's a win-win for everybody. And then, of course, if you get to come out to
Captiva Island and spend a week where we work you like crazy during the daytime
and then wine and dine you in the evening,
we also take a little time off during the day sometimes.
(36:59):
Sometimes, but it's just the ability to build those relationships with the other
teachers that are in the Collegium that summer, to learn new best practices
from the people that present at those things,
to learn new best practices from your fellow teachers,
and to really form another lifelong group of not only friends,
(37:20):
but professionals that you can lean on each other from time to time when you need to do so.
You know, it's never really over because you're in the Academy of Teachers then
where we keep inviting you back to all of these things and seeking your input
on really important things that are coming across,
you know, the school boards, desks or the business community thinking we really
(37:42):
need to do something about it.
The first people I reach out to are the Academy of Teachers to say,
what are your thoughts on this?
That's one of the things that I love. It is so amazing. I'll share my thoughts,
too, about the whole process,
but especially being a member of the Academy of Teachers and having the opportunity
to still participate in the events for the foundation or seeking input from
(38:06):
Academy of Teacher members.
So it's not something where, okay, you're a Golden Apple recipient or you went
to collegium, and then that's it. I don't want to say forgotten,
but it's nice to feel still involved.
And I think that's one thing that I could speak to, you know,
as far as my colleagues and peers that are also in the Academy of Teachers where,
(38:28):
you know, oh, it's golden apple time. We all get excited.
We love rooting and cheering each other on.
We all look whether the finalists are announced, the teachers of distinction
are announced and sending them messages, you know, email, text,
social media, congratulating.
Just this camaraderie within the community of educators is really something that is quite special.
(38:52):
And it all starts through this program.
The banquet, Marshall's right, it's a black tie event. We call it basically
the Academy Awards for Educators.
And we do get dressed up. And those stories are really inspirational for those,
like Marshall had said, that are listening out there.
I've never felt so inspired to be an educator. cater like I do after attending
(39:16):
the Golden Apple Banquet.
And even before I was a recipient and I started as a teacher of distinction
and then I was a finalist, you know, four times a recipient on the fourth,
I would leave that evening.
My wife would sit there and we'd listen to these speeches, these stories from
the recipients, seeing the students, like you said, introduce introduce them
(39:38):
and talk about their teachers.
You can't help but not leave inspired. It's really amazing, just kind of the
tone and just the mood of the event.
I even joke around, my sister, she had attended as one of my guests when I was
a recipient in 2021, my brother-in-law and my sister.
(39:58):
And she left that night. And the first thing out of her mouth when we left the banquet was,
Wow, maybe I should go be a teacher.
And then, you know, she realized all the other stuff that goes into it.
But you can't help but be inspired by these stories.
And you hear the passion in the voices and you hear these stories. It's phenomenal.
(40:20):
And as far as the Golden Apple program, once again, those that are listening
to this episode, it is hard work. It's challenging, but it's perhaps one of
the most rewarding things you could ever experience as an educator.
The day that you had visited me, I still remember it was March 12th, 2021.
I'll never forget it. It was the happiest day in my teaching career.
(40:44):
It ranks up there as, you know, professionally, nothing has topped it.
I don't know if anything will top it. But I also was very fortunate being over
at the Sanibel School at the time when I received my golden apple that my eldest
daughter, she was in middle school, so she was able to be there.
And as well, she was eighth grade. And then my wife also, who teaches at the
(41:08):
Sanibel School, Alexis, to be part of that.
And I know other spouses oftentimes will be able to be there when their spouses
are surprised or partners and whatnot.
But I have these clippings from the newspaper still to this day of when I received my golden apple.
And yeah, I have myself in it and receiving the apple.
But really what stands out and what I proudly display in my classroom,
(41:30):
even at a new school, is the smiles and reactions on my students' faces the day I received my apple.
That's really what sticks with
me the most as an educator. And it's really through a program like this.
That's that again. You got a smile on my face because when I hear you talk,
I know we succeed in doing what we want to do.
(41:51):
I got to also say, admit, it's nice to be on the other end of an interview with you, by the way.
I sat through that 12 committee members times four years.
So I've been I've had to answer 48 questions by my calculations.
So it was i was very excited to be on the
(42:13):
shoes on the other foot as they say much more relaxed
than you have been in the hot seat for 20 minutes and really what you mentioned
about the community members the selection committee coming out and visiting
you in your classrooms my kids were so excited to want to share what they had
(42:33):
learned what they were doing in class with me, and I know I'm not the only one.
You talk to any Golden Apples or Sapient, they'll tell you the same thing. They were proud.
They were proud of themselves. They were proud of our school, proud of our classroom.
And they would not have had this opportunity to showcase kind of what they have
(42:54):
learned, what they know, their passions, their interests, their personalities,
if it were not for a program like this.
So once again, you know, Bravo to the foundation for something like this.
Thank you, Joe. That's very much appreciated. Okay. Well, you are a very busy man.
We talked about not only the Golden Apple, you once again, you have the upcoming
(43:14):
FAFSA completion event for students, strives for education.
There's many things on your plate. I don't know personally how you can keep
up with all this, but you definitely inspire.
Well, you guys inspire me to keep on doing it. So it's a mutual admiration society we got going on.
(43:35):
Perfectly said. So on that note, we'll end this episode. Marshall Bauer,
president and CEO of the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools. Thank you for your time.
It's been an absolute pleasure speaking with you today, sharing the work of
the foundation and your personal story of how you came to be president and CEO of the foundation.
(43:56):
Thank you on behalf of all the educators in Southwest Florida.
To thank you on behalf of all the students and the lives that
you guys impact once again greatly appreciate
it my friend yep and i'll just end by saying
thank you for doing what you do because that's why i do what i do joe yeah well
this is season three episode one of the no frills teacher podcast the episode
(44:22):
is enhance enrich excel featuring marshall bauer from the foundation of Lake County Public Schools.
I will go ahead and include the link to the foundation's website in the episode
description for those who want to continue to learn more about what Marshall
and his team does at the foundation and all the wonderful programs.
I am Joe Camps. This is the Noah Frills Teacher Podcast.
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the No Frills Teacher podcast.
I'm your host, Joe Camps, and this is Season 3, Episode 1, Enhance,
Enrich, Excel, with my very special guest, Marshall Bauer.
Marshall Bauer, who is the president and CEO of the Foundation for Lee County
Public Schools, Inc. Marshall, welcome to the show.
(00:23):
Hey, Joe. Welcome to my office. Thank you for inviting me.
Oh, well, I am familiar with your office from, you know, all the times with
being down at the Foundation's building in Fort Myers down in southwest Florida.
And I got to say, you know, once again, thank you so much.
So let me kind of explain for those that are listening out there.
(00:44):
If you're living under a rock, tonight is actually the start of the NFL football season.
And there's this team called the Kansas City Chiefs that are playing.
And I was thinking to myself, well, how can I compete with Taylor Swift and the Chiefs?
Well, naturally, Marshall Bauer came to mind.
So I have to kind of run you as my guest on this episode with Gettifeld tonight.
(01:06):
But I feel good about my chances of viewership and listening.
So anyway, so Marshall, once again, I had mentioned you're the president and
CEO of the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools, Inc. in Southwest Florida.
And for those that have listened to this podcast before, I've had previous guests
(01:27):
that also have ties to the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools, Inc.
Through the Golden Apple program, and we're going to get into all of that.
But like you and I had previously discussed prior to this episode starting,
we talk so often about the Foundation and how we as teachers have so much admiration
(01:48):
for what the foundation does for educators, but I felt that it will come better
from you kind of talking about and sharing with our audience what exactly is
the foundation for Lee County Public Schools, your role as the president and CEO.
If you gave us a little background on both.
Absolutely, Joe. My pleasure. And I've never been compared to Taylor Swift before.
(02:12):
It's a first. First time for everything. As part of my job being fundraising,
I'd love to have that outreach.
Yeah, it's my pleasure to talk to you about the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools.
We have been in existence since
1986 when a concerned
group of local business leaders and
(02:33):
community leaders got with the school board of Lee County and the then superintendent
at the time and talked about starting a foundation with the understanding that
we would be the bridge between the business community and the community in general
with what's going on with our educators and with our students.
Because obviously in the business community, then in the business community
(02:57):
to this very day, realize that they have a definite stake in what's going on
in our public school system.
And the reason for that is you should just jump out at anybody,
but I'll lay them out from what I think about it.
Number one, the product, if you will, of the Lee County School District are
our students when they graduate. They're going to become the future workforce of this community.
(03:23):
They're going to become the future leaders of this community.
And so it is important that that link exists between the educators,
the students and the community, because if they operate in a vacuum,
there is a disconnect between what goes on during school and what goes on during the rest of life.
(03:43):
And so the foundation was formed by that group way back in 1986.
And the very first program that they came to was the Golden Apple Teacher Recognition Program.
Now we have in excess of 20, 25 different programs, but that's still one of our main programs.
We're a not-for-profit organization, a 501c3.
(04:05):
We are very connected to the school district in that we work hand in glove with
you educators, you teachers, your principals,
our students, to make sure that we're doing what we need to do to help make
sure you guys, I love your tagline, enrich and excel with what you're doing,
(04:25):
because then the whole benefit goes to the community.
And we all know how important it is for a community to be thinking progressively
about how we're going to tackle such things as workforce,
how we're going to tackle such things as all the societal problems that we see
coming up because, and you've heard me say this, Joe, I cannot think of a more
(04:47):
important job anywhere than our teachers.
It used to be that I'd say they're one of the most important professions.
I no longer say that. And this is coming from a lawyer.
Before there were lawyers and doctors and architects and mechanics and all those
other professions out there, there was a teacher that inspired us.
(05:08):
So that's why we think it's so important.
Well, that's perfectly said. And I got to say with you, as an educator,
if I were to write a book, the title would be overworked and undervalued.
And I really think a lot of people feel that.
And personally speaking, I know from other educators around our county,
and I know there are similar programs out there in other districts and states,
(05:31):
but we need advocates. Advocates, educators need advocates, just like we advocate for our students.
We need advocates for us to shine that spotlight on us or on education in general.
And I really do from the bottom of my heart say that nobody does that truly.
My 20 years of teaching like the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools.
(05:53):
Well, and I totally appreciate that. That makes me feel good because that's
really one of the main things I see as my board members doing as well as the
staff here at the foundation.
You know, it's sometimes said that when we reach out, especially if an educator
reaches out to decision makers and says,
what you just said, we're overworked, we're undervalued, so forth and so on,
(06:16):
there's a vested interest and that may or may not be heard like you want it to be heard.
But if it's heard by the business community and.
Who's making the community, you know, go forward in a very positive way,
it has hopefully some weight to it.
And no business person is going to stop talk to anybody and advocate if they
(06:37):
don't know what the issues are, if they don't know how they're being responded to.
And again, that's why we engage you guys, you being the teachers with our business community.
Well said. Now, you had mentioned about being an
attorney all you know so how did
you wind up working with the foundation you know
in your current role as president and ceo from previously
(06:58):
being an attorney all right kind of a different route in terms of how most people
get involved in not-for-profit organizations especially as i'm the president
and ceo so i am as i'd like to call it a reformed lawyer. I still have my license.
I was a prosecutor for almost 20 years.
(07:19):
And in that position, I was in charge of legal operations and community affairs.
And I tried the most heinous of crimes throughout this five-county area here in Southwest Florida.
And I'm a true believer in trying to prevent things and try and intervene appropriately
(07:39):
as opposed to just holding people accountable and spending more money.
And what I mean by that is we know that there are ways to help intervene and
to help prevent bad decision making.
I saw for years and years and years as a prosecutor, the results of people making bad decisions.
(08:01):
And those bad decisions can not only hurt them, they hurt the community,
and they hurt all of us in the pocketbook.
It's much more expensive to build gales.
It's much more expensive to build prisons. It's much more expensive to build detention centers.
And I could go on and on and on than it is to prevent and help work with our
(08:22):
greatest asset, in my opinion, our young people, our students,
so that they have good decision-making tools and make good decisions.
So as a prosecutor, I would always look around in the community to get involved
in those kinds of organizations that are doing just what I talked about,
offering good solutions, They're data-based.
(08:43):
They're best evidence types of programs.
And I came across one called Take Stock in Children way back when that's run
by the foundation here in Lee County and got involved.
To make a long story short, I became a board member of this organization in
the 90s. I'm aging myself.
And when I went into private practice and decided to sell that,
(09:07):
I was going to become one of those people that in their 40s got to retire or at least semi-retire.
But I put my name in to do this and I was chosen to do this.
And I agreed to do it for a couple of years. That was in 2006.
And the reason I keep doing what I'm doing is because, quite frankly,
I love it. I have never met a more hardworking, dedicated group of professionals
(09:33):
than the teachers such as yourself that I get the opportunity to work with.
And I have always been interested in advocating for what I call our greatest asset, our children.
I do that through a number of other organizations as well as the foundation
because it's not trite to me.
It's not just a saying to me. Children are our future.
(09:55):
I'm in my 60s. I was raised in the 60s and 70s.
We thought we were making a lot of progress and making the world go forward in a very positive way.
The end result, at least in my opinion, is we failed.
And we now got to really start all over again. And the best place to start is
with our young people coming out and offering the great solutions that they can come up with.
(10:20):
Well said. Now, I do have to give you a shout out real quick,
Marshall, that you recently were recognized from the Community Foundation for
one of being the top 30 nonprofit CEOs for 2024.
So congratulations with that. Well, thank you.
Well deserved. And there's no slowing down for you.
I could tell. And you had mentioned originally about the first Golden Apple recognition program.
(10:45):
And as preparing for this episode and doing a little bit of homework,
really, I think educators, a lot of times, even within our own county,
when we hear the foundation for Lee County Public Schools, typically,
maybe I'm wrong, and please correct me if I'm wrong,
Golden Apples, usually, I feel, one of the first things that comes to mind.
(11:07):
But there is so much more what you and the foundation are doing for not only
the teachers in the community of Southwest Florida, but also for the students.
And you had mentioned about to take stock in children. I mean,
going down the list, I have pages of notes, back to school supply drive,
the twins community fund through the Southwest Florida community grant.
(11:30):
You have an upcoming FAFSA completion event for students.
So what is it that keeps the foundation moving forward and being so progressive with these programs.
I have to give a lot of credit to a very involved board of directors working
with myself and my staff on seeing the issues that can be resolved.
(11:52):
We know there's answers to them. And just being gung-ho and wanting to go forward with them.
So, you know, for example, Joe, everything that we do here is meant –,
to help our students succeed in life, whatever route they take,
whether that's graduating from high school and going right into the workplace,
(12:13):
or it's going on to get technical or trades training, or it's going on to college or university.
So that's what our programs do.
When you say we do so much for teachers and students, the reason why we do so
much for teachers is because they do so much for students.
And so when we can affect a teacher in a very positive way, multiply that by
(12:38):
the number of students that that teacher touches, it's just an effective way
of doing what our mission is here.
And then, of course, working directly with students to help them make good decisions is the other way.
So our programs, in one way or another, either through working directly with
teachers or through working directly with our students.
(12:59):
Hopefully, the positive outcome is that we've got successful young people that
we're turning out into our community to make us a better community as we move forward.
And I love that we have that partnership, us educators with the community members,
the businesses within the community, especially down here in Southwest Florida.
Speaking about the community, you talk about the board and everyone.
(13:23):
I've had the opportunity to meet many of the board members. I think all of the
board members at some point over the past few years for the foundation.
But you also involved with many sponsors within the community,
Suncoast, Schools Credit Union, NBC2.
And I know I'm not naming all of them, but in your opinion, do you feel that
(13:44):
having these relationships with these sponsors not not only continues to enhance
the profession of education,
but like you said, it ties back into the future of our community,
our students eventually going
out into the workforce and maybe now having ties to these businesses?
Yeah, absolutely. So our partners, sponsors, are our partners.
(14:07):
The reason why they are sponsors is because they understand and recognize the
importance of our mission.
And so, you know, many of those partners.
Also benefit from the fact that they sponsor us and that they employ these teacher
students. Some of them are met through our programs.
They get great ideas. I know you've engaged with many of our board members and
(14:30):
our sponsors over the years.
They're hearing from you firsthand what are some of the issues that you're dealing
with in the classroom and that our students are dealing with and how we as a
community can help make that a little bit easier for whomever it is that is trying to succeed.
Because quite frankly, if our students succeed and if our teachers succeed,
(14:51):
our community succeeds.
And I think our sponsors, and we have many of them, thankfully.
Understand that their limited amount of dollars, and it's not just sponsorship
through funding, it's sponsorship through sweat equity.
It's sponsorship through getting involved and talking with the teachers and
talking with the students and mentoring the students and mentoring the teachers.
(15:15):
There's just so many ways to get involved.
And we are blessed as a community that we have many business sponsors who feel the same way.
I completely agree with you 100% with that.
And having the opportunity to speak to the partners, these businesses and these sponsors,
I think it helps us as educators share a little insight into what's happening
(15:40):
in our lives, in our classrooms, with our students in our schools,
that like you had mentioned a little bit earlier, that perhaps without these partnerships,
our community members,
you know, our stakeholders, if you will, really wouldn't be aware of what is
happening within the fall walls of a classroom or within a school,
and sometimes the place that educators face and the challenges.
(16:04):
Absolutely. You know, it's interesting to me when, you know,
many of our Our sponsors and or our volunteers are people around my age group.
You know, they're older.
They've been out of school for a long time.
And, you know, we all think we're experts on education because we all went to
school. Well, that's just crazy.
(16:25):
The world changes constantly. The things that you deal with in a classroom change constantly.
You know, it used to be a time when a lot of our classrooms were uniform. form.
I'm speaking to the choir with regard to you. You know this.
You could have 30 kids in a classroom with completely different backgrounds,
with completely different issues, and you're expected to deal with all 25, 30 of them at one time.
(16:51):
This gives the business community the ability and the community leaders to see
that and understand that.
You know, I remember when I was a practicing lawyer for a long time,
I would always hear about how you teachers reach into your own pocket and you buy all those things.
Well, you know, I kind of took that with a grain of salt.
But now that I've learned from talking to you all and seeing it, what teachers do is just.
(17:18):
Above reproach. If anybody ever wants to cut down teachers, they're going to
have to deal with me these days because I know what you're doing.
I know how dedicated you are in doing it.
And it's just not the same as it was when I went to school.
So, you know, it gives the ability for all of these people to be on a kind of
a level playing field, if you will,
(17:39):
in terms of understanding what our educators are dealing with and what our students
are dealing with these days, as opposed to, you know, back in the 60s and 70s
when I was going through school.
And it's not just what, you know, we're going through as far as the work,
you know, being overworked.
Financially, the foundation does a fantastic job really with setting up teachers
(18:03):
to be successful when the year starts.
And for example, the back to school drive, I was one of the district trainers
for Lee County Schools for the new teacher training camp this summer.
And all I remember one of the days was that at the foundation's building,
you guys were having your new teacher education resource center kind of shopping.
(18:26):
And everyone in my class, my session, was talking about how they couldn't wait
to go over to the foundation and check it out and get these resources to set
up and not necessarily have to spend all that money out of their pocket.
And just that goes a long way.
We see you. We as educators see what the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools
(18:48):
is doing to help support us, not just help us through recognition and through classroom grants.
You could get grants.
There's how about the Golden Futures. Can you talk a little bit about other
ways that you're helping teachers financially? Sure.
Absolutely. So the classroom grants that you bring up, we offer it every year
where teachers can apply for grants to do unique hands-on learning types of
(19:13):
exercises with their students, if you will.
They can apply for anywhere from 500 or group grants up to 1500.
It gives the opportunity. Teachers are so amazing to me in terms of what they
want to do with their students, thinking outside the box. How do we get our
students to learn this concept?
And you don't always just do it the old-fashioned way.
(19:36):
In fact, I hope you don't, because hands-on learning, to me,
is probably the best way we all learn.
And giving the opportunity for teachers to think outside the box,
to explore different ways of getting the attention and engagement of their students
is a win-win for everybody.
The Golden Futures program that you brought up, you know, this is one of the
(19:57):
ones I really love because it was born out of our Golden Apple Teacher Recognition
Program by, I believe, the 2013 class of Golden Apple recipients.
You know, all of our recipients, once a Golden Apple, always a Golden Apple,
you become a member of the Academy of Teachers like you are.
This is a unique group of really, gosh, just teachers that want to share their
(20:22):
wealth and their knowledge with one another,
that love what they do and continue to reach out to get that word out,
such as what you're doing right now with this podcast,
Joe. So you're an academy teacher.
You've been doing all these things that you don't have to do by contract with the school district.
You do it because you love to do it. So the Golden Futures program was a program
(20:45):
that really addresses the whole issue of how do we get more people and more
students when they're in high school interested in wanting to go to college to become teachers.
It's an issue that this country faces in terms of We've got more and more of
our graduating seniors not wanting to go into being teachers because of the
(21:08):
atmosphere that we sometimes find ourselves in.
We find the pay and the, I'll just go ahead and say it, sometimes the abuse
they get in the classroom from families and students.
That's not, you know, as pervasive as it may sound, but it's an issue.
And we really need to recruit and start growing our own. So the Golden Futures,
(21:30):
a play on Golden Apple, is a program that they dreamt up that we implemented here.
It was with the idea, let's start identifying people in the Lee County School
District, students in the Lee County School District, I should say,
who want to go into education and help them along with that.
So each year, we try to recruit students by getting the word out through the
(21:54):
teaching academies and through you Golden Apple teachers and through all of
the other teachers and counselors in the district that are interested in doing
this to get students to apply for that.
They go through a kind of a similar type process that the teachers went through
in Golden Apple and that they have to fill out an application.
They go to a formal interview, and then we choose them.
(22:16):
We reached out here at the foundation and partnered with the two colleges that
turn out teachers locally, that being Florida Southwestern State College and
Florida Gulf Coast University. And so we have agreements with both of them.
And when a student is selected to go into that program, they benefit in multiple ways.
(22:37):
One, if they abide by the terms of the contract, which says that they're going to get a minimum GPA.
Meet regularly with our fellow teachers and the Academy of Teachers if they
have questions and need some mentoring going on.
That if they do all of that and they graduate, we're going to pay for that four
years with the caveat that they're going to come back here and commit to at
(23:01):
least four years in the Lee County School District.
We think if we can continue to grow that type of program,
we'll have our own, if you will, homegrown teachers here in Lee County that
will at least partially help with
this whole issue of teacher shortage and teacher retention. attention.
This is something that we're desperately in need of, like you have said about a teacher shortage.
(23:24):
It's just not a local crisis. It's a national crisis.
And to have a program like the Golden Futures, I think of the many amazing programs
and initiatives from the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools,
I really do believe that this would be, and I hate to kind of say most important, but it's on the top.
It's near the top, I think, not to devalue any of the other programs with all
(23:46):
through respect, but we as educators are desperately in need of new teachers
coming into this profession.
I personally work with a recipient of the Golden Futures over at Tengweta Elementary School.
We were having a conversation one day and it was about Golden Apple and it turned
(24:06):
into, well, I was a Golden Futures recipient and here she is going strong as a fourth grade teacher,
a product of Grow Your Own through the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools
and the partnership that you have with the local universities.
Yeah. And you can't see my face, but you just put a big smile on it because
that is just such a great outcome that,
(24:28):
you know, it's important to address that issue because the worse it gets,
the worse it's going to get, if that makes sense.
If you as a teacher don't have the ability to have a planning period,
for example, because there's a teacher shortage, everybody suffers.
If you as a teacher all of a sudden have twice the amount of students in your
(24:51):
classroom, really, where's the teaching going on?
Everybody suffers. buffers we really need to
start promoting this idea of teaching is
like i just got done saying the most important profession there
is and what a great way to make a change in
in the future of your community than by
helping to mold our students into positive
(25:13):
productive citizens of our
community and again i know i sound like the biggest
cheerleader in the world and i consider myself off to do that for teachers
but we need it and for
those that are listening and i could attest you know
personally that marshall really is the real deal when i say that he's an advocate
(25:34):
and not just you all of your the employees of the foundation of the county public
schools the board of directors the community sponsors partners like i have never
seen a group of people that value
educators as much as you all do.
And you are our cheerleaders, and we do need that.
And like I previously mentioned, we as educators see this, and we know this,
(25:58):
and we recognize this, which is going to lead me, segue into a little bit about recognition.
And I can't have you on here without circling back to the Golden Apple program,
because nominations are currently open for For educators, you had mentioned
about the Golden Futures stemming from that class, you said 2013.
If I'm correct, of the Golden Apple Academy of Teachers.
(26:20):
Can you tell us a little bit more about the actual Golden Apple program?
Because I know it's different in different counties and different states.
Some people think you're just getting some sort of award or a trophy,
but it's so much more. more personally, the relationships that I have built and made.
And these are people through the Golden Apple Program,
(26:41):
through the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools, Inc., that were some that
were strangers who became colleagues and peers who became just great personal close friends of mine.
And it was all through the networking and this opportunity.
It's really changed the trajectory of my career and in some aspects, my personal life.
(27:02):
And really, it all started from the Golden Apple. So if you don't mind,
Marshall, can you share a little bit more about this, the nomination process?
What, you know, from beginning to end, where we start and where we end in April at the banquet?
Absolutely. And it's my pleasure to do that because it is the very first program
we started here and it is one of the most profound.
And I think that not everybody really realizes what's involved with it.
(27:27):
So I'm happy to do that because when we're talking about teacher retention and
trying to draw people into the teaching profession, this program hits it on
all cylinders, in my opinion. So as you said, it just started.
It starts at the beginning of every school year where we get out the nomination
forms in various ways to as many people as we can in the community.
(27:50):
So this is not a program where we go to the principals necessarily and say,
tell us who your best teachers are.
This is a program that goes right to your constituency, your students and their families.
And while we do get nominations from all kinds of different people,
sometimes your fellow Fellow teachers nominate you, sometimes principals nominate
(28:12):
you, sometimes counselors and other administrators.
The vast majority of our nominations come in from students and or their families,
students being the number one.
The number of nominations tells me just how important our teachers are to our community.
So last year, we received over 3,000 nominations in the County School District.
(28:33):
As you know, this is not an easy type of program to go through.
And I completely understand why some teachers in some years will say,
no, I'm just not doing this or this isn't my bag. And that is fine.
That doesn't mean they're not a golden apple teacher.
It does mean that they've just made that decision. But I'm thankful because
(28:55):
you know this, when I send out the letter to all of the nominated teachers,
I say, someone, probably your student, took the time to nominate you.
So at least consider applying for it. So the first part is the nomination process.
We draw up nomination forms and send them all or draw them up.
We have them printed and send them all out to all over the district.
(29:15):
We put it in the local newspaper that they can clip out and use as a nomination form.
We send it out now online so anybody can just make copies of it or even do it online.
Multiple ways to do it. Once the nominations come in, and that's going to be,
I think, the 20th of September is the cutoff date,
the next process is for me to then get in touch with all of those nominated
(29:38):
teachers and say what I just said. Somebody nominated you. Here's an application.
We'd love for you to apply for this. And that's a shortened version of what I say.
But that goes out. And last year, we had over 300 teachers take the time to
fill out the application. The application changes every year,
so it can't be one where you just push the button every year.
(29:59):
You've got to be thinking about what you're saying.
We change it up based on the input from the Golden Apple Selection Committee,
which I should tell you from the very get-go are community members,
business community members, retired community members.
They're from all different kinds of fields. We don't say we want educators judging educators.
(30:20):
We want this to be a community project where there are different kinds of backgrounds
and different kinds of ways of
thinking about things come together in a committee. And it always works.
The cream rises to the top, as I like to say, when when it gets to that point.
So the nominations nominated people get a letter and with an attached application,
(30:41):
if they choose to go forward. Ford, great.
Last year, we had, as I said, over 300.
Once we get those applications in, they go to the 12 members of the Golden Apple Selection Committee.
They review them and they rank them. And it's one of the hardest jobs in the world.
And they'll tell me that year after year when they start this process going,
(31:02):
I don't know if I can do this next year.
And then at the end of the process, they go, oh, my God, I got to do this again.
And the reason for that is they get to know you guys and they fall in love with you all.
So they fill out the application. It goes to the committee.
They rank them. The top 100 are the teachers that we are going to be honoring that year.
(31:24):
And a lot of people don't know that. They think it goes down to six and that's who we honor.
They're the six that we are representative of all the teachers that we make
a big deal about at the end.
But we invite the 70 teachers of distinction and the 30 finalists to many,
many events throughout the year. They're honored with a social at our partner
(31:44):
Chico's headquarters here at the beginning of the year. They're honored.
The 30 finalists are honored with an announcement at our office.
We have various other get togethers with the business community,
such as the McDonald's breakfast, one of our other sponsors.
So a lot of ways for what you and I just talked about earlier,
really, this is engaging the community with what's going on with our teachers
(32:08):
and giving that opportunity for that interchange of ideas,
that talking things out so that everybody's on the same page of the book when
we're talking about public education.
So as I said, it gets narrowed down to the 100.
70 of them are called our teachers of distinction. The top 30 are called our
Golden Apple finalists.
(32:29):
They will be the ones that will go on further in the process.
So the next step is all 12 members of our Golden Apple selection committee go
visit the classrooms unannounced of all of the 30 finalists over a few-month period.
They observe what they're doing in the classroom. They observe,
you know, how they interact with their students.
(32:51):
They see the love of learning going on. All of those things that as a community,
you don't necessarily get the opportunity to go in a classroom and see.
Then the third part of it is a formal, and it's nerve-wracking to some people,
and you probably remember this, Joe, a formal interview with the 12 members
(33:11):
of the selection committee over a two-day period.
60% of the final calculation, if you will, to determine who the six recipients
are going to be, 60% of that is through the classroom observations,
and 40% of it is based on the final interview that they have.
Based on all of that, we come up with the six top finalists and my favorite
(33:34):
part of the whole program. Some think it's the banquet.
It is definitely a thing I love going to the banquet and wearing my penguin
suit and having a really formal night and it's aired on TV locally. That's wonderful.
But my best part is getting to surprise the teachers, the six recipients in the classroom.
(33:54):
And it's my favorite part because I'm bringing a whole busload of business leaders and the media.
And we just bust in the classroom with the TV cameras rolling and the newspapers
flashing their picture taking.
And you get to see the kids reaction. And that's why that's my favorite part,
because it's truly I love it. I remember when we busted into your classroom, the kids yell, we won.
(34:21):
It's not my teacher. That's right. 100% is exactly what they yell.
And that just tells you what a learning situation you got going in there because
the students are feeling as one with the teacher. And I just love that.
So that's my favorite part. But the next part is then we start doing things
(34:43):
where we have you all come together and meeting with the community and different
socials and that kind of thing. And then it ends.
I shouldn't say it ends. But the next part is the banquet. And we invite the
70 teachers of distinction.
We obviously are honoring the six Golden Apple recipients. They're on stage.
But also in that audience, we invite all of the prior Golden Apple recipients who come every year.
(35:05):
Many of the other educators and the business sponsors in the business community,
6,800 people come together for a black tie event to shine the light on the spotlight of teaching.
And it's quite a tender evening in terms of we have students,
again, this is my favorite part about the banquet, who do the introduction of the teachers.
And we've had students as young as four and five years old getting up and doing it.
(35:29):
We've had kids with special needs getting up there and doing it.
And it's usually one of those points where there's a lot of laughing and there's
a lot of crying, happy tears going on when the stories of the teacher are being
told through the eyes of their student.
And then we get to hear from you wonderful six recipients and your philosophy
and teaching and what you go through as a teacher.
(35:50):
And again, there's usually a lot of laughing and a lot of crying and a very
happy way going on with that.
And then we end the evening with a nice big dance so everybody's all happy.
But that's not the last part of it, as you know, Joe.
The last part of it happens over the summer where we put on our Collegium for
the Advancement of Education.
So the Golden Apple Teacher Recognition Program tries to hit on all cylinders.
(36:14):
We try to make sure that the business community is engaged, that the community
leaders are engaged, that our students and their families are engaged,
that there's engagement between those groups with each other,
and teacher development.
So the two final things I'll talk about is you guys, and you said it already,
you join and meet each other. You become lifelong friends.
(36:38):
You talk to one another. You network with one another. You share best practices with one another.
It's a win-win for everybody. And then, of course, if you get to come out to
Captiva Island and spend a week where we work you like crazy during the daytime
and then wine and dine you in the evening,
we also take a little time off during the day sometimes.
(36:59):
Sometimes, but it's just the ability to build those relationships with the other
teachers that are in the Collegium that summer, to learn new best practices
from the people that present at those things,
to learn new best practices from your fellow teachers,
and to really form another lifelong group of not only friends,
(37:20):
but professionals that you can lean on each other from time to time when you need to do so.
You know, it's never really over because you're in the Academy of Teachers then
where we keep inviting you back to all of these things and seeking your input
on really important things that are coming across,
you know, the school boards, desks or the business community thinking we really
(37:42):
need to do something about it.
The first people I reach out to are the Academy of Teachers to say,
what are your thoughts on this?
That's one of the things that I love. It is so amazing. I'll share my thoughts,
too, about the whole process,
but especially being a member of the Academy of Teachers and having the opportunity
to still participate in the events for the foundation or seeking input from
(38:06):
Academy of Teacher members.
So it's not something where, okay, you're a Golden Apple recipient or you went
to collegium, and then that's it. I don't want to say forgotten,
but it's nice to feel still involved.
And I think that's one thing that I could speak to, you know,
as far as my colleagues and peers that are also in the Academy of Teachers where,
(38:28):
you know, oh, it's golden apple time. We all get excited.
We love rooting and cheering each other on.
We all look whether the finalists are announced, the teachers of distinction
are announced and sending them messages, you know, email, text,
social media, congratulating.
Just this camaraderie within the community of educators is really something that is quite special.
(38:52):
And it all starts through this program.
The banquet, Marshall's right, it's a black tie event. We call it basically
the Academy Awards for Educators.
And we do get dressed up. And those stories are really inspirational for those,
like Marshall had said, that are listening out there.
I've never felt so inspired to be an educator. cater like I do after attending
(39:16):
the Golden Apple Banquet.
And even before I was a recipient and I started as a teacher of distinction
and then I was a finalist, you know, four times a recipient on the fourth,
I would leave that evening.
My wife would sit there and we'd listen to these speeches, these stories from
the recipients, seeing the students, like you said, introduce introduce them
(39:38):
and talk about their teachers.
You can't help but not leave inspired. It's really amazing, just kind of the
tone and just the mood of the event.
I even joke around, my sister, she had attended as one of my guests when I was
a recipient in 2021, my brother-in-law and my sister.
(39:58):
And she left that night. And the first thing out of her mouth when we left the banquet was,
Wow, maybe I should go be a teacher.
And then, you know, she realized all the other stuff that goes into it.
But you can't help but be inspired by these stories.
And you hear the passion in the voices and you hear these stories. It's phenomenal.
(40:20):
And as far as the Golden Apple program, once again, those that are listening
to this episode, it is hard work. It's challenging, but it's perhaps one of
the most rewarding things you could ever experience as an educator.
The day that you had visited me, I still remember it was March 12th, 2021.
I'll never forget it. It was the happiest day in my teaching career.
(40:44):
It ranks up there as, you know, professionally, nothing has topped it.
I don't know if anything will top it. But I also was very fortunate being over
at the Sanibel School at the time when I received my golden apple that my eldest
daughter, she was in middle school, so she was able to be there.
And as well, she was eighth grade. And then my wife also, who teaches at the
(41:08):
Sanibel School, Alexis, to be part of that.
And I know other spouses oftentimes will be able to be there when their spouses
are surprised or partners and whatnot.
But I have these clippings from the newspaper still to this day of when I received my golden apple.
And yeah, I have myself in it and receiving the apple.
But really what stands out and what I proudly display in my classroom,
(41:30):
even at a new school, is the smiles and reactions on my students' faces the day I received my apple.
That's really what sticks with
me the most as an educator. And it's really through a program like this.
That's that again. You got a smile on my face because when I hear you talk,
I know we succeed in doing what we want to do.
(41:51):
I got to also say, admit, it's nice to be on the other end of an interview with you, by the way.
I sat through that 12 committee members times four years.
So I've been I've had to answer 48 questions by my calculations.
So it was i was very excited to be on the
(42:13):
shoes on the other foot as they say much more relaxed
than you have been in the hot seat for 20 minutes and really what you mentioned
about the community members the selection committee coming out and visiting
you in your classrooms my kids were so excited to want to share what they had
(42:33):
learned what they were doing in class with me, and I know I'm not the only one.
You talk to any Golden Apples or Sapient, they'll tell you the same thing. They were proud.
They were proud of themselves. They were proud of our school, proud of our classroom.
And they would not have had this opportunity to showcase kind of what they have
(42:54):
learned, what they know, their passions, their interests, their personalities,
if it were not for a program like this.
So once again, you know, Bravo to the foundation for something like this.
Thank you, Joe. That's very much appreciated. Okay. Well, you are a very busy man.
We talked about not only the Golden Apple, you once again, you have the upcoming
(43:14):
FAFSA completion event for students, strives for education.
There's many things on your plate. I don't know personally how you can keep
up with all this, but you definitely inspire.
Well, you guys inspire me to keep on doing it. So it's a mutual admiration society we got going on.
(43:35):
Perfectly said. So on that note, we'll end this episode. Marshall Bauer,
president and CEO of the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools. Thank you for your time.
It's been an absolute pleasure speaking with you today, sharing the work of
the foundation and your personal story of how you came to be president and CEO of the foundation.
(43:56):
Thank you on behalf of all the educators in Southwest Florida.
To thank you on behalf of all the students and the lives that
you guys impact once again greatly appreciate
it my friend yep and i'll just end by saying
thank you for doing what you do because that's why i do what i do joe yeah well
this is season three episode one of the no frills teacher podcast the episode
(44:22):
is enhance enrich excel featuring marshall bauer from the foundation of Lake County Public Schools.
I will go ahead and include the link to the foundation's website in the episode
description for those who want to continue to learn more about what Marshall
and his team does at the foundation and all the wonderful programs.
I am Joe Camps. This is the Noah Frills Teacher Podcast.
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