LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Candace Goode was nominated by an anonymous colleague.

Mrs. Goode has worked at Silver Lakes Middle School in North Lauderdale for the past seven years. In her capacity as ESE Support Coach, she works directly with teachers and students, providing instructional and emotional support for students who have been identified as needing this intervention. Meeting Mrs. Goode is a unique experience. From the moment you see her, a warm welcoming smile permeates the environment and draws you in. It is this personality trait that allows her students to connect with her on a personal level.

Although working with the ESE population is her primary task, Mrs. Goode supports her school in ways that are almost too numerous to mention. She is the Social Emotional Liaison for her school, Junior Honor Society sponsor, member of the School Discipline Plan Committee, assistant secretary for the School Advisory Council, former SAC Chair, and is currently training two incoming chairs. She is also the TIER Liaison coach for beginning teachers and those new to her school, in-service facilitator for her school, where she works to ensure that all teachers fulfill their responsibilities to maintain their certification, and she offers professional development for the CHAMPS discipline program, where teachers complete earn in-service points. Mrs. Goode wears all these hats with a smile and always has an encouraging word for everyone she meets.

For Mrs. Goode, student success is of utmost importance. Consequently, she works deliberately and directly with teachers to provide support for students who might otherwise fall through the ‘proverbial’ cracks. To ensure that all teachers have direct communication with her, she created a weekly survey that she accesses to acquire up-to-date information on her assigned students’ academic progress. She then uses the information to strategize interventions that, upon implementation, have decreased the failure rates among the ESE student population. She has an open door policy where she coordinates with district directors, who bring other ESE support staff in to observe her modeline how to conduct a learning strategies class.

In her classroom, Mrs. Goode has created a relaxed atmosphere that is positive and elicits excitement within her students. Students are often overheard talking about how empowered they feel after receiving individualized assistance from her. On a regular basis, she tells her students to “…struggle with it a little”. She understand the importance of allowing them time to try on their own and experience the joy of success that their efforts produce. Her goal is not only to provide them with an answer, but teach them how to get to the answer so they can adapt their learning to a future activity.

Every student on campus knows Ms. Goode. As the social emotional coach, she coordinates activities such as Random Acts of Kindness (RAK), which teaches students to be kind to each other. This year, she revised the activity to have students work in groups to complete designated tasks. The students acknowledged the benefits of strength in numbers as opposed to working individually. It was awesome to watch the camaraderie and enthusiasm among students.  

In her role as Social Emotional Liaison to the district for her school, she designs and coordinates training for staff. This is accomplished by working with administrative staff and supporting teachers on the Social Emotional Committee she leads. Recently, she prepared a series of posters that were posted in various locations around the school campus. They serve to uplift and remind students on the importance of attitude and academic success. Through her dedication to bringing awareness to the relevance of social-emotional topics in education, she has garnered attention from district level directors who have utilized her skills to conduct workshops on the topic. These workshops are presented to various district stakeholders to include: principals, assistant principals, community stakeholders, and parent groups.  Upon completion of the workshop, they are able to take the techniques learned and apply them based upon the needs of their specific population.

For Mrs. Goode, application in the real world is the ultimate proof of learning transferred. She arranges activities where Junior Honor Society students can provide service to the community. Whether they're designing and implementing a plan of action to keep the school and its surroundings clean, or distributing food at area shelters, students learn that giving is just as important as receiving. It isn’t unusual for her and the JHS students to be seen at a community center on a Saturday. For them, this is the norm.

Mrs. Goode also works with Junior Honor Society to provide peer-tutoring after school. Her students also see her modeling this "caring is sharing" mindset as she runs a “Book Bag for Champions” program onsite at Silver Lakes Middle. This venture is supported by the faculty and stakeholders, who donate bags to her cause. Any student in need of a book bag only needs to show up at her door and trade their damaged book bag or just ask for a bag. She gives them a new bag – no questions asked.

"Mrs. Goode gives 100% of herself to her students, peers, and community. The many hats she wears would be overwhelming to some. However, it is just another day on campus for her doing what she does best … serving others," said her nominator. "She believes that being an educator is more than teaching. It is about caring and sharing. It isn’t any wonder that she was nominated teacher of the year by our staff for the 2017-2018 school year. For this reason, I am nominating Mrs. Goode for the LifeChanger of the Year award."