Her Story
About Amber
I've been in education for 8 years, and my journey has been all about reaching beyond the classroom to impact entire communities. I started through Teach for America in Miami, where I discovered my passion for teaching wasn't just about academics but about connecting with students and their families. I believe you grow a flower in soil, not concrete, so the family is like the soil and the child is the flower. You need to take care of everything around the child. After teaching, I wanted to reach more people, so I moved into nonprofit work with City Year, where I managed teams at different high schools and helped young adults in their gap years grow professionally while they served students. Then I joined Catapult Learning as a supervisor for Title I programs, working with private schools across Broward, training teachers, analyzing data, and making sure we supported both teachers and students in the ways they actually needed. I graduated with my Master's in Educational Leadership and became an assistant principal about a year and a half ago. Now I lead a K-9th grade school where I start each day greeting students and teachers with energy, lead morning affirmations with the whole school, coach and develop teachers, handle discipline and emergency situations, and work directly with students. I'm starting a podcast with my older students and pull different groups throughout the day, including a girls group. I also believe in exposing children to the world, so I recently took students to Colorado for skiing and snowboarding, and some of them saw snow for the first time. I'm currently pursuing my Master's in Business Administration and will graduate in August 2025. My dream is to start my own nonprofit that mentors both boys and girls, exposing them to experiences beyond their immediate environment and helping them discover who they are and what they can become, while also supporting and developing their families.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Amber
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to holding on to my passion and my why, especially during difficult times. When I faced challenges with other educators who told me I cared too much or was doing too much for students, or when there was competitiveness and lack of support from people who were supposed to be on my team, I stuck to my passion. I'm here for the children and the families. This is my purpose. I'm living my purpose. All of that other stuff didn't bother me. I stood tall, stood alone at times, stood by myself at times, but I leaned on my passion for helping my children. That's what helped me really understand that I love what I do. In adversity, when it comes to other adults or other people that are supposed to be on your team, you hold on to your passion. You hold on to what you're doing it for, who you're doing it for. I looked at my students and thought, I can't quit on you. That's what kept me going.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Be patient and do it if it's your passion. Go with your passion, be patient, and love the children and the families, no matter what, but also love yourself first. That's the biggest thing. When you love yourself first, you can go and love everybody, and you can spread love to everybody. But I also think in education, it's not for the money. You have to hold on to your passion. Hold on to that part, because you are making a difference. You might not feel that way. Just imagine you're planting a flower. You might be the watering person. You might just plant the seed. You might be able to watch it blossom. You might not see it blossom. You might just be putting the water in and not see anything, but just remember, you're planting that seed, you're growing a flower. There's different stages to growing a flower. There's a stage where you're excited and you don't see anything. There's a time when it's starting to sprout, or there's a time when only the roots are growing and you're not able to see that, but you're making a difference.
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