Kathy Dozier and Kara Matney

Dozier’s and Matney’s innovative teaching idea, “A Changing Climate,” is designed to change the climate of the school by changing the mindsets of the students and community in this small, rural town in South Carolina. According to the teaching duo, the town’s numbers may be small, but the needs are many. This program is designed to bring the students and the community together in an effort to educate the middle school students to be successful in life. Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, Leslie M. Stover Middle School will implement the 7 Mindsets social and emotional learning program, fully immerse our students, faculty, staff and community into the motivational language of character education and its core values. Dozier and Matney believe that their program will reduce the behavioral occurrences and increase academic goals as well as attendance goals, creating a positive school image in the community thus changing the climate in our school.