Spotlight 4 Success

Stuffed Animals to Silicon Valley

• American Book Company • Season 1

Share episode

What happens when a dedicated classroom teacher decides to expand her impact through educational technology? Stephanie Ranieri's story offers a compelling glimpse into the evolving landscape of education careers and the diverse paths educators can take to influence learning.

Website: spotlight4success.com

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Spotlight for Success by American Book Company. I'm Devin Pintosi, your host. We are here at ASCD ISTE in sunny San Antonio, texas, really enjoying a wonderful conference. You are here on day two. I am here and joined by Stephanie Ranieri. Stephanie Ranieri joins us from New Jersey. She went to Liberty Corner Schools as a teacher and she has some insights to share today. Thank you for joining us today, stephanie.

Speaker 2:

Thank you for having me. It's a great day to be here.

Speaker 1:

Wonderful. Can you tell me a bit about what brings you here to ISTE?

Speaker 2:

So I am a former third-grade teacher. I've been teaching for five years, started as a fifth grade teacher, now in third grade, but also recently decided to want to switch over to the ed tech industry. So I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to come explore the different companies, learn about their missions and also just meet some fellow teachers.

Speaker 1:

That is wonderful. And so what brought that change to say I want to go into ed tech or go into technology?

Speaker 2:

So the best thing about being a teacher is the impact that we make on the students. So I wanted to take that to a broader scale and I wanted to make a larger impact on educators, students and I love working with teachers. That's why I got my master's in ed leadership to be able to have that interaction with teachers. That's why I got my master's in ed leadership to be able to have that interaction with teachers, so just want to make a bigger impact.

Speaker 1:

Oh, that's so great. Can you tell us a bit about your educational journey, why you chose to become a teacher?

Speaker 2:

So I was one of those people when they were very younger, one of those kids that would have a school in their basement. They would teach their stuffed animals and their friends, and it was just really a passion of mine. I loved the teaching aspect of it. When I got to college again, it was something that I was very interested and passionate about doing and my journey started at Liberty Corner School. And again, I've been teaching for five years and I wanted to again make a bigger impact. So I went for my education leadership master degree to hopefully become a principal or supervisor. But right now I think I'm just headed in a different direction. I want to work more on the corporate side.

Speaker 3:

Oh, that's awesome. Thank you for watching Spotlight for Success. I am Devin Pintosi, chief Operating Officer of American Book Company. We are located here in our headquarters in Woodstock, georgia. All of our materials are printed in USA. We have course books, e-books and online testing in grades K through 12, in mathematics, ela, science and social studies. These materials are all designed to help students achieve higher scores on their state-specific high-stakes assessments. We guarantee score improvement. You can get free samples of our materials either in print or in electronic formats at abck12.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

Speaker 1:

And can you tell us a bit about. Do you have a special memory from when you were in the classroom working with the kiddos?

Speaker 2:

A lot of memories it's hard to pinpoint one. I think the best part of being a teacher again is just the impact that you're making on the students. And third grade is such a pivotal year because students are coming in and you know they're still young and they don't have too much independence. But I think that their transformation from the beginning of the year to the end of the year is so large. They become their progress in math and reading and all the subjects just improve. So I think, just again seeing the end result of how the students progressed, just the impact.

Speaker 1:

That is so awesome. And, stephanie, can you let us know? Okay, so you're making the transition into the ed tech space, wanting to work on the corporate side, mm-hmm. And so how can people contact you if they're interested in speaking with you into the ed tech?

Speaker 2:

space, wanting to work on the corporate side, and so how can people contact you if they're interested in speaking with you? If you would like to speak with me, you can contact me in my email. It's Stephanie S-T-E-P-H-A-N-I-E dot Ranieri, R-A-N-I-E-R-I 97 at gmailcom. Or you can look me up on LinkedIn. Stephanie Ranieri, I would be there, ready to chat with you. I'm excited to get to know some people.

Speaker 1:

Yeah it's a free to reach out. Thank you so much Again. Stephanie Ranieri, joining us as a very recent teacher that is now exploring the ed tech industry, we're so happy to have you here today.

Speaker 2:

So happy to be here. Thank you so much, thank you.