Rinita Williams

I attribute my success to the example set by my father, who served as both a police lieutenant for 30 years and a substitute teacher, while always being involved with the community through sports refereeing and volunteer work. Watching him and my mother, who involved us in Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, taught me at a young age that service should be number one and that being part of your community is essential. My dad even taught in my eighth-grade classroom as a substitute teacher, which was a little embarrassing but showed me how the educational piece has always been part of my life. My parents believed in sportsmanship, teamwork, and learning at an early age, and they always wanted us to be part of doing good within our community and keeping where we live clean and vibrant. That foundation of service, community involvement, and education shaped who I am today and drives everything I do - from teaching first graders and adult ESOL students to leading environmental initiatives and mentoring young people. I've been blessed with a strong network of women and mentors who uplifted me and helped me find my niche, and now I'm paying that forward by embracing and uplifting others, especially women, and helping them discover their own passions. I believe everyone has something that feeds into their heart, and when you find that passion and incorporate it into your career and daily life, fulfillment is met every single day because it's not a chore - it's something that makes you perked up, skipping, and smiling all at the same time.

The most influential guidance I received didn't come in the form of career advice, but through the example set by my family. Watching my father serve as both a police lieutenant for 30 years and a substitute teacher on his off time, while consistently being involved with the community through sports refereeing and volunteer work, taught me the value of service, leadership, and compassion. He was always part of the community and education - he even taught in my eighth-grade classroom, which was a little embarrassing at the time. My parents believed in sportsmanship, teamwork, and learning at an early age, and they always wanted my brother and me to be part of doing good within our community through Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and sports. Those examples helped shape who I am today and inspired my lifelong commitment to education, mentorship, and making a positive difference in the lives of others. The lesson was clear: keep service number one and always give back to where you live.

My advice would be to find your passion - something that you like to do, whether it's writing, reading, art, science, STEM, or working with specific populations like senior citizens, youth, domestic violence victims, or underprivileged students. Everyone has something that really feeds into their heart and taps into them. When you find that passion, go with it and make it part of your career in some way. Incorporate it into what you do on a day-to-day basis with your life and your career, because that is going to fulfill and pour into your own self. Your fulfillment will be met and matched every single day because it's not going to be something that feels like a chore or something that you dread to do. It's going to be something that you are literally perked up, skipping, and smiling all at the same time, and the benefits will pay off. You also can't do it by yourself - there's no I in team. There are groups, organizations, libraries, and mentors everywhere who want to mentor and are looking for mentees. Mentoring doesn't have to be anything on paper or official - you are mentoring children, students, young women, and young men each and every day through conversations, small tokens of advice, helping them with resumes or internships. It's just something that you naturally do. Build that support system, seek out those mentors, and remain open to continuous professional growth and development. There's always room for growth and learning in education - you're constantly learning and you never know everything. Take advantage of professional development, courses, and classes to improve your craft and enrich your abilities. Have courage, stay adaptable, and keep a willingness to keep learning, because those are essential qualities for success in education and leadership.

I think a lot of the challenges we face come from written laws from our government administration. In Florida specifically, we have a lot of challenges, and I'm going to say one major one is book banning. A lot of people may disagree, but I feel like a lot of books that have been banned within the state of Florida were not really ethically sound decisions, because many of those books deal with race and deal with history. It's almost like a disservice to various cultures because we're not really able to speak or teach on certain things anymore. That's a challenge because you have to navigate around actual history that has happened - things that you can't take back, you can't delete. That censorship is not a good thing for education, especially when you're dealing with history. On the opportunity side, there's always opportunity in education for growth. You're constantly learning, and I find myself telling my adult ed students and even my first graders that you don't know everything - you're always a learning machine. As an educator, I'm learning every day and growing every day. I never feel that I know it all, and if I don't know something, I will find out the answer. The growth potential and career potential in education is endless - there's room to always grow, to get additional degrees, to seek various positions. Your learning growth can never stop. There's always professional development, courses, and classes to improve your craft, and some are free while others may even give you a stipend for taking them to enrich your abilities and skills. Especially with technology these days, we have to be on the cusp of what's happening and be tech-savvy. Everything is digital now - there was a time where you could write out your lesson plans, but now everything is on computers. There are free classes everywhere to train yourself and build your skills with technology. Now we have AI, and I'm actually taking two classes on AI during the summer. Women have a unique opportunity to shape the future of education through mentorship, advocacy, and leadership, and by remaining courageous, collaborative, and committed to lifelong learning, we can continue driving positive change in schools and communities despite these evolving challenges.

Service is number one for me - that's what my parents instilled in me from a young age through their example and involvement in the community. I believe in servant leadership, collaboration, compassion, and finding everyone's niche to help push them forward with that. I like to uplift women and embrace people, which is what my mentors did for me, so I'm just paying that back and continuing that tradition because I had such a strong network of women and even men who made sure I was exposed to wonderful things in life. Determination and dedication are essential - I'm committed to doing good within our community and keeping where we live clean and vibrant. Lifelong learning is a core value because you're constantly learning and you never know everything. I tell my students, both my first graders and my adult ed students, that you're always a learning machine, and as an educator I'm learning and growing every day. If I don't know something, I will find out the answer. Community service and environmental stewardship are deeply important to me, which is why I'm so passionate about sustainability projects, beach cleanups, tree planting, and gardening initiatives. I believe education extends far beyond academics - it should help students develop confidence, character, and the skills needed to thrive. Being a people person and a good judge of character helps me connect with students, families, and community members. Outside of my professional responsibilities, I enjoy spending quality time with my husband, relaxing at the beach, and swimming, which help me maintain balance and restore my energy. My husband and I are water people - I was a lifeguard at the Jersey Shore in high school - and we love living near the water in South Florida where we can swim regularly. I believe in finding your passion and incorporating it into your daily life and career so that fulfillment is met every single day, because when you do what feeds into your heart, it's not a chore - it's something that makes you perked up, skipping, and smiling all at the same time.