Colvin Educational Specialists Inc.

We are the only Teacher Wellness Program in the nation that actually put boots on the ground. Our goal in the  pilot year is to see 15 schools throughout 4 districts on two separate occasions spaced evenly apart.  The seasoned teachers at CES Inc. go into schools and help facilitate school culture and teacher wellness through positive walk-throughs and making teachers know that they are appreciated and valued.  We go into schools and tackle this problem with a 6-pronged attack.  On Tuesday and Thursday we feed the faculty breakfast and lunch respectively from a food cart where the faculty may choose their own food.  We also give out $1700 in  gift cards throughout the week for teacher attendance and for them inviting us into their classrooms.  We give the teachers a t-shirt of their choice that they can pick from over 40 different shirts.  On top of that we hold a contest where the teachers mimic what we are there to really accomplish and that is performing walk-throughs for the teachers.  We ask the teachers to visit co-workers classrooms and write a nice review about the teacher they saw that day. They then send that to us and we pick a winner at the end of the week and they also receive a gift card.   Lastly is the reason for CES Inc.  Our team conducts 48-60 walk-throughs during the week.  This allows our staff to get a great feel of the school's culture through these visits. Afterwards, we write reviews based on what we saw, not from an administrators point of view, but rather from a seasoned classroom teacher.  We look for the best in the teachers and not their deficiencies.  We highlight what they are doing right and never focus on the negative.  Our reviews, along with everything else we are striving to accomplish, are focused on lifting these teachers up instead of just exasperating the negativity that oftentimes make the educators want to quit instead of working harder or better.  This is the first of its kind, but without funding it is just another great idea that falls to the waste side.