LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Jared Brown was nominated by Tami Amos, a colleague.

Dr. Jared Brown is one of the assistant principals of William Fleming High School (WFHS), a Title I school. WFHS is one of two high schools in Roanoke City Public Schools and has an enrollment of around 2,000 students. WFHS is also a minority-majority high school where 51 percent of the population is Black, 30 percent are Latin American, and 18 percent are Caucasian. It is important to note that the Latin American population is growing at a rate of three to seven "newcomers" who enroll each week and speak little to no English. The vast majority of students live in single-parent households or foster care.

This is Dr. Brown's second year as an urban high school administrator. During those two years, he completed his Educational Doctorate in Leadership. The practitioner-based program allowed Dr. Brown to identify a Problem of Practice(PoP) in his current role and spend his doctorate journey addressing that problem. Dr. Brown observed student behavior and placed a significant emphasis on actively listening to students who were sent to his office. Dr. Brown identified two problems of practice. First, the students who seemed to get in trouble the most were not motivated to attend school and needed a vision for what they wanted out of life. Second, Dr. Brown identified that most Spanish-speaking students operate under the administration's radar.

To address these problems, Dr. Brown asked a sampling of educators to implement self-determination theory (SDT) techniques into their pedagogy. SDT became the focal point of his dissertation, emphasizing English Language Learners(ELL). The information collected in this dissertation allowed the central office to know that over half of the students of WFHS who are chronically absent (missing 10 percent of the school day or more) and thus negatively impacting accreditation standing were born in Central America.

"Dr. Brown's dissertation findings have helped shed light on some areas of WFHS academics and practices that could be improved, but he also directly impacts the students and culture of the school every day. He has outstanding professional relationships with the students and the parents he works with. He hired the only Spanish-speaking secretary at the school to allow us to communicate better with that growing demographic. Mr. Brown volunteers to help tutor students in math and science once he finishes his dismissal responsibilities. Several students stay an extra hour after school for Dr. Brown's help. He also helps prepare students for SAT and ACT exams or the end of the year Standards of Learning test," said Amos.

Dr. Brown's most significant contribution is his presence in the hallways. Every day, he radiates a positive and contagious energy that the students and faculty in the building absorb. He has no problem unlocking the custodian closet to mop up a student's spill in the hallway. In some emergencies, he has even had to teach lessons for some classes until a substitute teacher arrived. He shows humility with his position and new doctoral title. When someone catches themselves referring to him as "Mister Brown," he laughs and says, "Just call me Brown'." His catchphrase at the school is "Go Team," and he does everything a good captain of an educational team should do.

"Dr. Brown isn't just a LifeChanger this year; his energy and efforts are creating years of life-changing practices that will reach hundreds of students each year," stated Amos.