Every year, teachers and educational professionals from each Freehold Regional High School District school are selected to be honored in the Monmouth County Governor's Educator of the Year Program. We are recognizing each of the 2022-2023 recipients in a Staff Spotlight series. This week, we are highlighting Laurie Floyd, a Teacher Coach at Howell High School.

Mrs. Floyd has worked for the Freehold Regional High School District since 1992. She began her career in the district as a history teacher until 2017, when she began her present position as a Teacher Coach. Mrs. Floyd is an alumnus of the district having graduated from Manalapan High School in 1987 and then going on to pursue a Bachelor of Arts from Clemson University and a Masters in Library and Information Science from Rutgers University. 

Mrs. Floyd was surprised and appreciative of the recognition when she was named Educational Professional of the Year for Howell. With a varied career in the district, Mrs. Floyd said she hopes that she had an impact on the lives of the thousands of students that she taught and coached over the years. In her current position, Mrs. Floyd notes she's had the opportunity to positively impact every student in the FRHSD by creating new guidance websites, helping teachers create new curriculums, and helping teachers learn new strategies and ideas. 

"My proudest moment in this position was the time leading up to and during the pandemic.  Our team of six created countless “how to” pieces and workshops to help our staff and students pivot when we all went home and had no idea when we were returning to school. We helped teachers that had never used Google Classroom or Google Meet pivot to complete online teaching. Then we helped staff pivot again to hybrid learning and then finally again back to in-person teaching. Working as part of a team that has impacted the regional in so many ways makes me very proud," she said. 

When asked what advice she would give to someone entering the field of education, Mrs. Floyd said "Teaching is not for the weak – you must love teenagers and you must have a sense of humor. Once you start teaching, you need to find “your people” - these are the people that you plan with, bounce ideas off of, vent to occasionally, and most importantly, laugh with."

Mrs. Floyd noted that the support of the wonderful people she has worked with over the years has kept her in the field.