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Tiffany Cox

October 2020

Lake Worth High School
Band director and Music Teacher
Nominated By: Brandi Waldo

How does this teacher or faculty member demonstrate a caring consistent attitude toward all students?

Ms Cox works very hard to make sure her "Band Babies" have everything they need to be successful in school. She makes sure their schedules are correct so they can graduate on time, talks to them about family, school and social/emotional concerns, makes them feel like a family when they are part of her band program, designs her marching band programs with the culture of the children in her band in mind so they have buy in, teaches them about commitment, volunteering, stepping out of their comfort zone and helping them earn money and manage that money to pay their band fees. These are only a few of the things that she does during the school year and she also does so much more during the summer to keep her "Band Babies" focused and motivated.

Explain how your Nominee used their own money to provide for an individual or for their classroom/school needs. These efforts were done selflessly, requiring ZERO in return, except to make a difference in a life.

Ms Cox teaches at a Title 1 high school in Lake Worth and many of her students are from low income families. She makes sure all the students are fed when she has late practices and games by purchasing pizza, she always has bread, peanut butter and jelly and snacks in her band room for students who need to eat. She went to the thrift store and bought many white long sleeve shirts and black pants and black shoes so ALL the students would have the correct clothes to wear for the concerts. She buys the necessary hair products for the students to use before going on stage for a concert or on the field to march. Ms Cox brings in her sewing machine and iron and designs or repairs uniforms and costumes. When on field trips and a student does not have money for lunch, she loans them the money and most of the times does not get paid back with money but with volunteer time.

How does this individual demonstrate a passion for learning and teaching?

Ms Cox demonstrates a passion for learning and teaching because she is constantly looking for new ways to help all her students not just at school but in their home life also. For virtual learning, she put her lessons in English, Spanish and Creole to make sure her students understand the information. She helps them to understand that they have the ability to change their lives but they need to get a quality education and put forth the effort and make changes for themselves. She lets them know that it is OK and necessary to ask for help and guidance in order to reach your goals. She teaches her students to love music but also to love themselves and others and by doing that, makes our future generation so much better.

What sets your Nominee apart from other educators?

Ms Cox is 31 years old, has a Masters Degree and will finish her PhD at FAU in December. She works tirelessly for her students and also sets a good example for them by showing them that education is important and if you really want something you have to work hard for it. Ms Cox made sure that all of last years Seniors in her Marching band and Color guard had an opportunity to go to college. She assisted, guided, encouraged and pushed each one of them to fill out college applications. She took the Seniors on tours of several colleges because their own parents could not or did not think it was necessary. She put together a gift basket for each Senior who went to college and gave it to them so they would have the necessary school supplies and misc. college gear to help them be successful and not "feel or look poor" when they got to school. She made up an excel sheet for each child to show all the college expenses, what would be paid by financial aid and scholarships (which she had them apply for as Juniors) and how much they would have to earn. She found a way to get each Senior their own brand new laptop to take to college. The most impressive thing was she made sure each of her graduating seniors received a new instrument (thanks to many donors) to take with them to college so they would not have to rent or borrow one. Ms Cox does this and so much more while working on her PhD, being a speaker at Music conferences and being a nominee for Instrumental Music Teacher of the year. During the Covid virtual learning and during the summer, Ms Cox made sure all her students were aware of places that were giving out free food and even went out of her way to get the food and take it to many families because they do not have transportation. I could go on and I but I think you would get more of what she does if you contact her, her students, her Principal, the elementary, middle and high school music teachers in her area and even the Band Alumni President at LWHS. Thank you for thanking teachers.

 

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