Meet Our Innovative Educators

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Volume 1, Issue 3

August 2016

Innovative Educators 1-6

Road Running 7

Inside this

issue: Page

Nicole Haney Social Studies Instructor

Mrs. Haney’s favorite book is the” Great Gatsby,” by: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Some of her hobbies are black and white photography, horseback riding,

and exploring new places. Mrs. Haney has a Bachelors degree in Anthropology focusing in

archaeology. She’s from Sandwich (Cape Cod), Massachusetts. An Interesting fact about her is

that she’s a diehard Red Sox and Patriots fan.

Janice Bates Student Services and ESE Facilitator

Mrs. Bates’s favorite book is “Angela’s Ashes” and all novels by Donald Goines. Some of her hobbies

are visiting flea markets and garage sales, as well as antiquing. In her she free time she loves to watch

old movies. Mrs. Bates has worked in the childcare industry for over 30 years. She’s from Jacksonville,

FL. An interesting fact about her is she loves to bake cakes and make clothes.

Robert Hayeck Site Director

Mr. Hayeck’s favorite book is “The History of the World”. A hobby of his includes watching soccer.

In his free time, he enjoys relaxing at home, watching the news, and visiting nearby sites. Mr. Hayeck is a 21-year Navy veteran. He’s from Haiti and New York City. An interesting fact is that he

plans to someday travel around the world.

Matthew Kirkley Audio/Virtual Engineering Technology Assistant

Mr. Kirkley’s hobbies include music and cooking.

Interests of his are technology, family, and learning new things. Mr. Kirkley is certified in Pharmacy Technology and he’s a musician from the Bronx New York. An Interesting fact about him is that

he’s an amazing cook.

As you can see, SALTech has quite a dynamic team of Educational Innovators. Our team is dedicated to ensuring that our students are able to obtain a high-quality education. Every one of our team members are self-motivated and passionate about what we do. The reason this team is titled

“Innovators,” is because we strive to bring forth new ideas that will help our youth to grasp the importance of their education. Additionally, we all have in-depth personal and professional

experience in our field. We are pleased and greatly excited for another opportunity to work towards creating a better tomorrow for our entire community. Read on for more details!

Meet Our Innovative Administrators

Mr. Michael LaRoche CEO/Principal

Mr. LaRoche’s favorite book is “How To Be Exceptional,” By: Zenger, Shewin and Steel. His

hobbies are shopping and cooking. In his free time he enjoys surfing the internet, and watching sports and politics. A few of his interests outside of work are spending time with his family and pets. His

educational background consists of a Master’s in Educational Leadership, a Master of Science in Management Technology, and a B.S in Industrial Technology with a concentration in Plant Engineering. He has over 15 years of teaching and coaching experience at the middle and secondary level, over 12 years of school-based administration, more than 5 years of military Experience, as well as two years of district

administration. He is from Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, in the West Indies. Some fun and interesting facts about Mr. LaRoche include his lack of fear for the status-quo, his love for serving and

helping others, and his highly collaborative decision-making skills and techniques.

Amber Lee Assistant Principal

Mrs. Lee’s Favorite book is “The Bible”. A hobby of hers is people-watching. In her free time, she likes to relax,

watch movies, and spend time with her family. She is also interested in photography. Mrs. Lee has a B.A in accounting and completed a two-year internship. She is from St. Petersburg, FL. A very interesting fact about

her is that she has an awesome sense of humor.

...Innovative Educators

Priscilla Allen English Teacher

English/Social Studies Department Head

Ms. Allen’s favorite book is “The Temple of My Familiar,” By: Alice Walker. Her hobbies include painting,

traveling, drawing, eating, and reading. In her free time, she enjoys being a creative genius. Her interests outside of work are community, art, and family. Ms. Allen’s a Jill

of all trades and is from Chicago and Georgia. An interesting fact about her is that she is a junior, meaning

that her mother shares her same exact name. Her favorite animal is the Feline.

Marteka Brown Receptionist

Mrs. Brown’s favorite book is “God Don’t like Ugly,”

By: Mary Monroe. In her free time, she enjoys spending quality time with her husband and sons,

singing, and dancing. Her interests are reading, fashion, exercising and exploring interesting new

places. She is a SALTech Graduate and is currently enrolled at Florida State College at Jacksonville.

She’s from Orlando, Florida. An interesting fact about Mrs. Brown is that she is a very optimistic and positive person, who enjoys helping others.

Travis Thomas Creative Audio Engineering Instructor

Mr. Thomas’s favorite book is “The Alchemist,” By: Paulo Coelho.

Some of his hobbies include playing tennis, playing chess, and listening to music and lectures. He’s currently working on his

cooking skills. His free time is spent building his mind, body, and spirit through some form of activity. Interests of his are traveling,

learning, discovering new things and producing songs. Mr. Thomas has a B.A in music performance from Edward Waters

College (EWC). He’s from Jacksonville, Florida, but he was raised in Wadley, Georgia. Something interesting about him is that he is

a music producer, as well as a recording artist. He has released two albums to date, titled “Mixed Emotions” and “Me 2 U”.

Brandi Mincey Receptionist

Mrs. Mincey’s favorite books are the “Amelia

Bedelia” book series, she’s read them all. A hobby of hers is taking pictures of her two handsome sons. In her free

time, she plans fun activities for her sons and family. She’s interested in photography, and is currently

learning about lighting and angles. She graduated from Englewood High school and is currently attending

Florida State College at Jacksonville. She was born and raised right here in Duval County, Florida. An

interesting fact about Mrs. Mincey is that she has a twin brother. They are like salt and pepper but they work

well together.

...Innovative Educators

Bernice Green Math Instructor

STEAM Department Head

Ms. Green’s favorite books are the Harry Potter series. Her hobbies are binge watching shows on

Netflix, running, and traveling. Her interests outside of work are food, reading, and singing. Ms.

Green has a Bachelors in Math from FAMU, and she has taught on the middle and high school

levels for three years.

Kaleen McIntosh Testing Specialist / Counselor

Mrs. McIntosh’s favorite book is “Their Eyes Were

Watching God,” By: Zora Neal Hurston. Her hobbies include reading, shopping, and traveling. She spends

her free time traveling with her two beautiful daughters. Her interests outside of work are spending time with her sorority sisters of “Inner Womanhood of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc.,” and watching action movies. She went to Florida A&M University for Psychology and

has spent 10 years teaching. She has also attended Walden University and obtained a Masters in

Education. Additionally, she worked with DCF in Tallahassee, Florida as a counselor and on the abuse

hotline. She is from West Palm Beach, Florida.

Wendy Irwin Science Instructor

Mrs. Irwin’s Favorite book is “The Purpose Driven

Life,” By: Rick Warren. Some of her hobbies include drawing, writing skits & puppet shows, and going to sci-fi movies with her husband. In

her free time, she enjoys surfing the net and exercising at the gym. Her interests outside of

work are volunteering at 12-step support groups and bible study. She has her B.A in education and

has worked in the medical field. Mrs. Irwin is from New York, and she was raised in New Jersey.

An interesting fact about her is that she used to have an animal lab with over 70 different animals

and reptiles. Dogs are her favorite animals.

Courtney Leonard Science Instructor

Ms. Leonard enjoys running, traveling, reading and

singing. In her free time, she enjoys caring for children. She’s from Jacksonville, FL. She attended Florida A&M University and obtained a Bachelor’s

of Science in Health Science. She worked at the Broach for two years as a science teacher. She also

worked at the Arc of St. John’s.

...Innovative Educators

Rebecca Borg English Instructor

Ms. Borg’s favorite author is Kurt Vonnegut. Some of her hobbies include collecting vinyl records (she has over 100). In her free time, she enjoys watching

TV, hanging with her boyfriend and son, and also going to concerts and the beach. Outside of work she loves to listen to music and write. Ms. Borg has tutored, been a scorer for standardized tests, and worked in the education field for some

time. She’s from Jacksonville, FL A fun fact is that she is a proud mother of an amazing one-year-old

named Kadin.

Tracy Moore Registrar Assistant

Mrs. Moore is a very family oriented person, who

enjoys reading books to young children. She graduated from Jacksonville Job corps ( CTT/ O.A.) and has been working with JJCC for over 11 years. Something interesting about Mrs. Moore is that

she truly enjoys working with young people.

Chiquita McDuffie Community Liaison

Mrs. McDuffie’s favorite book is “Mama,” By: Terry

McMillan. Her hobbies are reading, fishing and researching. She spends her free time with her family, doing anything that they decide to do for fun. Mrs. McDuffie has a Bachelor of Arts in

English from the University of North Florida and a Master of Public Administration also from UNF. She worked at Tiger Academy Elementary School as a receptionist for four years., and has also

tutored English on the collegiate level. An interesting fact is that she has a high interest in seeing others succeed and a severe dislike

for seeing others suffer..

De’Andra Jackson

Administrative Assistant

Ms. Jackson’s favorite book is” Knowledge of Self: A Collection of Wisdom on the Science of Everything Life,” By: Dr. Supreme

Allah. Some of her hobbies are cooking, baking, and choreography for her majorette team, as well as home DIY

projects. In her free time, she surfs the web, Skype’s and Face Time’s with friends. She also likes meditating, enjoys doing hair, shopping, traveling, singing and hanging out with friends/family.

Ms. Jackson attended Virginia College and Norfolk State University. She was in the U.S Navy, worked for President

Obama, and she has been working in education since 2013.

Meet Our Innovative Educators

Cachete Hird English/ESOL Instructor

Ms. Hird doesn’t have a favorite book but recently finished “Me

before You,” By: Jojo Moyes and she truly enjoyed it. Her hobbies include reading, collecting movies, cross stitching and OPI nail

polish. She likes to spend her free time with her sorority sisters of “Sigma Lambda Gamma Sorority Inc.” Some of her interests are

hanging with her church group, volunteering with SSC Kids department and trying new things. Ms. Hird has a Bachelors in Mass Communications-Telecommunications from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, and a Masters in Elementary Education & TESOL

from the University of North Florida. She’s from Allentown Pennsylvania. An interesting fact about her is that her first name is French meaning hidden treasure and she’s half Puerto Rican on her

father’s side.

Yelain Del Pino Office Administration

Ms. Del Pino’s favorite book is “Flight to Freedom,” By: Ana

Veciana-Suarez. Her favorite hobby is listening and dancing to Latin music. In her free time, she enjoys traveling or watching television. An interest of hers is technology and phones. Her educational background includes customer service, Microsoft

specialization, and office administration. She’s from Camaguey, Cuba. For fun, she absolutely loves to go out dancing.

Chandra Simmons Registrar

Ms. Simmons's favorite book is "God Help the Child," By:

Toni Morrison. Her hobbies include all forms of sports. She has a Master's in Business Administration. Ms.

Simmons is originally from Ocala Florida. An interesting and fun fact about Ms. Simmons is that she likes to have fun

dancing.

Ian Flemming

Social Studies Instructor

Mr. Fleming’s favorite book series go back and forth

between the Harry Potter or the Game of Thrones. His

favorite hobbies are fishing, kayaking, hiking, mountain

biking, or anything to do with the outdoors. He has a

Bachelors in History from the University of North

Florida. SALTech is his first teaching position. Mr.

Fleming was born and raised here in Jacksonville,

Florida. He loves to read and travel.

Vivian Camacho

Virtual Technology Assistant

Ms. Camacho is a High School Graduate from

Miami Springs Senior High School. She has an

Associates Degree in Environmental Studies, from

Miami-Dade College. She is currently working on

a Bachelor's Degree at the University of North

Florida. She has worked in several roles, including

Catering, Administrative Assistant, Buyers

Assistant, Inventory Clerk, Quality Assurance

Representative, and Educational Assistant, before

coming onboard at SALTech. Ms. Camacho has currently been at SALTech for

over four years. Ms. Camacho is from Hialeah, Florida.

SALTech Road Runners Program

SALTech Road Runners

We hit the streets of Downtown Jacksonville’s Rosa Parks station and Hemming Plaza to let our community know about the inspirational works going on at SALTech Charter High School . We had the opportunity to speak with some

great people and build camaraderie. Additionally, we had the chance to visit the Mary Lena Gibbs Community Center, Emmett Reed Community Center, The Sanctuary @ Mt. Calvary, Live Music Lives Here in Hem-

ming Park ,the CW 17, and the Back to School SmARTs Artwalk Downtown. What a wonderful time to be a part of the SALTech Family!!! The team’s chemistry is absolutely amazing and great things are being done in preparation for what’s

to come!

www.SALTechJax.org

Purpose SALTech Charter High School's purpose is to break the cycle of poverty and undera-

chievement for youth who have dropped out of the traditional education system.

Mission SALTech Charter High School will provide our “at-promise” students with a complete

real life learning experience while encouraging them to strive for academic excellence through a rigorous, competency-based, and challenging

curriculum.

Vision SALTech Charter High School is committed to delivering a rigorous

individualized curriculum for our “at-promise” students that allows them to accomplish their academic goals and become life long learners in an

Core Values

Optimism - We believe in your success! Excellence - We hold ourselves accountable everyday for reaching our

goals Courage - We are solidly student-centered in our decision making,

prioritizing the needs of students academic success is our number one goal

Teamwork - We believe that an excellent team makes the dream work and will positively impact student achievement

4811 Payne Stewart Drive

Jacksonville, FL 32209

Phone: 904.328.5001

Fax: 904.768.8618

The School for Accelerated Learning and Technologies, Inc. (SALTech) is Regionally Accredited by AdvancED—the parent

organization of The North Central Association CASI and Southern Association of Colleges and School CASI and the Northwest

Accrediting Commission.