Spotlight 4 Success
We're shining a light on education success stories and talking about current trends and topics of importance to the education community. Join us in conversation!
Spotlight 4 Success
Middle Years Matter
Middle school isn’t the hallway between “cute” and “chaos”—it’s the proving ground where students decide who they’re becoming. We sit down with Anna Crooke, a veteran educator and board member for the North Carolina Middle Level Educators, to unpack why the middle years carry outsized impact and how a conference like NCMLE fuels real classroom change. From her roots in a family of teachers to roles spanning classroom, coaching, principalship, and district leadership, Anna shares a candid look at what works when adolescents are testing limits, seeking belonging, and building habits that last.
Website: spotlight4success.com
Welcome to Spotlight for Success by American Book Company. I am Devin Pintozi, your host. We are here at NCMLE, the North Carolina Mid-Level Educators Conference in wonderful and sunny Charlotte, North Carolina. Today we are here and joined by our special guest, Anna Crook. Very nice to meet you, Anna. Thank you. Anna is a middle school director with Caldwell County Schools. Thank you, Anna, for joining us today.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you. I'm glad to be here.
SPEAKER_00:Anna, can you tell us a bit about your work in NCMLE and what's going on here at this conference?
SPEAKER_01:Yes, so I am the conference, I'm on the executive, or not the executive board, but the board of directors for the middle level association. And then at this conference, I work with sponsors and vendors. So I help get sponsors and vendors situated, get them to come to the conference, recruit them, make sure they have everything they need, all kinds of things like that.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, that's wonderful. And uh can you tell us a bit about your journey of why did you choose to become a teacher?
SPEAKER_01:So I became I grew up in a family of educators. My mom and dad were both teachers, and it was always something that I felt like was my passion. I think I didn't know anything different, but when I was a little girl, I played like I was driving the school bus. I it I've just always had that passion for teaching.
SPEAKER_00:So oh that's wonderful. And uh what made you uh you've you've done a number of different kinds of schools you've been a part of, is that right?
SPEAKER_01:Yes, so I majored in middle level education and then when I in college and then I started teaching in a high school, and I taught high school for three years, and then I moved to middle school, which is what I really wanted to do. So I taught there for um ten years, then I was an instructional coach in that school, then I moved to be an AP at an elementary school, and then I was the principal of a middle school, and now I work at the central office in middle level education.
SPEAKER_00:Wow, that is quite a journey right there. Thank you for watching Spotlight for Success. I am David, the chief operating of American Book Company. We are located here in our headquarters in Woodstock, Georgia.com. We look forward to hearing from you.
SPEAKER_01:So I would say one of my favorite moments was um there was a year when I taught seventh grade and then I got moved to eighth grade. So I had the same group of students two years in a row. And those kids were just so special to me. They um they were kind of bonded as a family. We did a lot of things together. Um on the first day of school, I came in the second year and it was party in my classroom. They were having a ball because they all knew each other, they were comfortable, and I was worried because they all I went in on the first day. Everybody's usually quiet, and they were not quiet, they were just ready to roll, and they were. I was like, Oh, hold on to your socks. This is gonna be a year, but it was fine. When we walked in, we all knew each other, we had the standards set already, so we were just able to pick up and start doing our thing, and it was great. We had a fantastic year.
SPEAKER_00:Wow.
SPEAKER_01:And those kids still to this day, they're adults now, they're like 30, and they come in. I I see them in the grocery store wherever and they're like, Miss Crook, Miss Crook. So I'm really bonded to those people.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, that is wonderful. Uh, tell us a bit about your um uh let's see, you made a journey to become an NCMLE uh member, board member. Yes, how did that happen?
SPEAKER_01:So I've attended this conference for a long time since I was in the classroom. And so as a middle school teacher, I really enjoyed this conference. I learned a lot. I loved coming to hear from other educators and getting their ideas. Then um my principal nominated me to be the regional teacher to watch. I think then it was regional teacher of the year for NCMLE. And I won. And so I got involved that way, and then later on when I was I took this job at the district office, a friend approached me and asked me to be a part of the board.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, that is wonderful. And um, is there anything else you'd like to share with the NCMLO community?
SPEAKER_01:Well, this is a fantastic conference. I wish every middle school educator could come here. Middle level education is unique, and oftentimes we get buried in between the littleness of elementary and the craziness of high school, and so we're often forgotten, but this is really important work. Middle school kids usually decide what they're gonna do in the middle school ages, and they also it's the proving ground for whether kids will stay in school or drop out, so it's really important time, and it's a time of huge growth and development. So we need to celebrate our work, and we need times to develop professionally like this to support our kids.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, I totally agree. It's such a critical group of years for all of us, and uh it's fantastic that uh you've been able to do so much here with the organization uh to support the MidLaba teachers uh in their journey and all the things that they're doing in their classrooms. Um, well, thank you so much, Anna Crook. Very nice to meet you again. Uh uh she is a member, a board member of NCMLE and supports all of us, and especially us as exhibitors as well here at the conference, and we're so happy you could join us today.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you.