"My goal is to help both students and teachers become information literate, giving them life long skills in understanding and evaluating the breadth of information to which they have access. It is my hope that in my current role I can work as a "change agent" interconnecting my roles as curriculum consultant, teacher, manager of an information center, and a leader for staff development. I have relied heavily on my classroom experience and my involvement with technology to provide me with what I need to develop and run a successful Library Media Center program. From the smiles on the students' faces to my interaction with teachers, I have positive feedback that what I am doing is working. I love my job and look forward to heading in to school every day."
"To reach the lofty goals of educating and challenging every child, we must recognize that teaching is one of the most critical professions of the 21 st century. Teaching is the profession that makes all other professions possible. Teachers guide our authors to write, our politicians to challenge, our engineers to construct, and our doctors to remedy. They hold the key to our future. To encourage more young people to teach, we must provide the necessary training and ongoing respect and support that will put a talented, dedicated, well-prepared, highly qualified teacher in every classroom and keep them there. With all of us working together, our country will become a well-educated world leader in the 21 st century."
A parent of one of Ms. Payne's former students writes: "Her enthusiasm and energy for teaching and learning are infectious. Her standards are high and she has always made sure that "no child was left behind," even before it became fashionable to do so. She is more concerned with what her kids are learning than what a standardized test score is telling her. She truly wants to impart knowledge and help the world, one student at a time. To her credit and, thankfully for us, she is."
Having earned her Bachelors in Elementary Education from Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, IL, Ms. Payne has continued her education by taking graduate courses in education at Arizona State University and the University of Phoenix. She earned her Masters in Educational Technology from Northern Arizona University. Ms. Payne is the 2003 Scottsdale Charros Middle School Teacher of the Year. She has been a teacher for 16 years.
