Meet Our Innovative Educators
Volume 1, Issue 3
Inside this
Page
issue:
Innovative Educators
1-6
Road Running
7
The SALTech Gazette
SCHOOL FOR ACCELERATED LEARNING AND TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
August 2016
Janice Bates
Student Services and ESE Facilitator
Nicole Haney
Social Studies Instructor
Mrs. Bates’s favorite book is “Angela’s Ashes” and
all novels by Donald Goines. Some of her hobbies
are visiting flea markets and garage sales, as well as
antiquing. In her she free time she loves to watch
old movies. Mrs. Bates has worked in the childcare
industry for over 30 years. She’s from Jacksonville,
FL. An interesting fact about her is she loves to
bake cakes and make clothes.
Mrs. Haney’s favorite book is the” Great Gatsby,”
by: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Some of her hobbies are
black and white photography, horseback riding,
and exploring new places. Mrs. Haney has a
Bachelors degree in Anthropology focusing in
archaeology. She’s from Sandwich (Cape Cod),
Massachusetts. An Interesting fact about her is
that she’s a diehard Red Sox and Patriots fan.
Matthew Kirkley
Audio/Virtual Engineering Technology Assistant
Robert Hayeck
Site Director
Mr. Kirkley’s hobbies include music and cooking.
Interests of his are technology, family, and learning
new things. Mr. Kirkley is certified in Pharmacy
Technology and he’s a musician from the Bronx
New York. An Interesting fact about him is that
he’s an amazing cook.
Mr. Hayeck’s favorite book is “The History of the
World”. A hobby of his includes watching soccer.
In his free time, he enjoys relaxing at home,
watching the news, and visiting nearby sites. Mr.
Hayeck is a 21-year Navy veteran. He’s from Haiti
and New York City. An interesting fact is that he
plans to someday travel around the world.
As you can see, SALTech has quite a dynamic team of Educational Innovators. Our team is
dedicated to ensuring that our students are able to obtain a high-quality education. Every one of our
team members are self-motivated and passionate about what we do. The reason this team is titled
“Innovators,” is because we strive to bring forth new ideas that will help our youth to grasp the
importance of their education. Additionally, we all have in-depth personal and professional
experience in our field. We are pleased and greatly excited for another opportunity to work towards
creating a better tomorrow for our entire community. Read on for more details!
Meet Our Innovative
Administrators
Mr. Michael LaRoche
CEO/Principal
Mr. LaRoche’s favorite book is “How To Be Exceptional,” By: Zenger, Shewin and Steel. His
hobbies are shopping and cooking. In his free time he enjoys surfing the internet, and watching sports
and politics. A few of his interests outside of work are spending time with his family and pets. His
educational background consists of a Master’s in Educational Leadership, a Master of Science in
Management Technology, and a B.S in Industrial Technology with a concentration in Plant Engineering.
He has over 15 years of teaching and coaching experience at the middle and secondary level, over 12 years
of school-based administration, more than 5 years of military Experience, as well as two years of district
administration. He is from Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, in the West Indies. Some fun and
interesting facts about Mr. LaRoche include his lack of fear for the status-quo, his love for serving and
helping others, and his highly collaborative decision-making skills and techniques.
Amber Lee
Assistant Principal
Mrs. Lee’s Favorite book is “The Bible”. A hobby of hers is people-watching. In her free time, she likes to relax,
watch movies, and spend time with her family. She is also interested in photography. Mrs. Lee has a B.A in
accounting and completed a two-year internship. She is from St. Petersburg, FL. A very interesting fact about
her is that she has an awesome sense of humor.
...Innovative Educators
Priscilla Allen
English Teacher
English/Social Studies Department Head
Ms. Allen’s favorite book is “The Temple of My Familiar,”
By: Alice Walker. Her hobbies include painting,
traveling, drawing, eating, and reading. In her free time,
she enjoys being a creative genius. Her interests outside
of work are community, art, and family. Ms. Allen’s a Jill
of all trades and is from Chicago and Georgia. An
interesting fact about her is that she is a junior, meaning
that her mother shares her same exact name. Her favorite
animal is the Feline.
Brandi Mincey
Receptionist
Mrs. Mincey’s favorite books are the “Amelia
Bedelia” book series, she’s read them all. A hobby of hers
is taking pictures of her two handsome sons. In her free
time, she plans fun activities for her sons and family.
She’s interested in photography, and is currently
learning about lighting and angles. She graduated from
Englewood High school and is currently attending
Florida State College at Jacksonville. She was born and
raised right here in Duval County, Florida. An
interesting fact about Mrs. Mincey is that she has a twin
brother. They are like salt and pepper but they work
well together.
Marteka Brown
Receptionist
Mrs. Brown’s favorite book is “God Don’t like Ugly,”
By: Mary Monroe. In her free time, she enjoys
spending quality time with her husband and sons,
singing, and dancing. Her interests are reading,
fashion, exercising and exploring interesting new
places. She is a SALTech Graduate and is currently
enrolled at Florida State College at Jacksonville.
She’s from Orlando, Florida. An interesting fact
about Mrs. Brown is that she is a very optimistic
and positive person, who enjoys helping others.
Travis Thomas
Creative Audio Engineering Instructor
Mr. Thomas’s favorite book is “The Alchemist,” By: Paulo Coelho.
Some of his hobbies include playing tennis, playing chess, and
listening to music and lectures. He’s currently working on his
cooking skills. His free time is spent building his mind, body, and
spirit through some form of activity. Interests of his are traveling,
learning, discovering new things and producing songs. Mr.
Thomas has a B.A in music performance from Edward Waters
College (EWC). He’s from Jacksonville, Florida, but he was raised
in Wadley, Georgia. Something interesting about him is that he is
a music producer, as well as a recording artist. He has released
two albums to date, titled “Mixed Emotions” and “Me 2 U”.
...Innovative Educators
Bernice Green
Math Instructor
STEAM Department Head
Ms. Green’s favorite books are the Harry Potter
series. Her hobbies are binge watching shows on
Netflix, running, and traveling. Her interests
outside of work are food, reading, and singing. Ms.
Green has a Bachelors in Math from FAMU, and
she has taught on the middle and high school
levels for three years.
Kaleen McIntosh
Testing Specialist / Counselor
Mrs. McIntosh’s favorite book is “Their Eyes Were
Watching God,” By: Zora Neal Hurston. Her hobbies
include reading, shopping, and traveling. She spends
her free time traveling with her two beautiful daughters.
Her interests outside of work are spending time with
her sorority sisters of “Inner Womanhood of Zeta Phi
Beta Sorority Inc.,” and watching action movies. She
went to Florida A&M University for Psychology and
has spent 10 years teaching. She has also attended
Walden University and obtained a Masters in
Education. Additionally, she worked with DCF in
Tallahassee, Florida as a counselor and on the abuse
hotline. She is from West Palm Beach, Florida.
Courtney Leonard
Science Instructor
Wendy Irwin
Science Instructor
Ms. Leonard enjoys running, traveling, reading and
singing. In her free time, she enjoys caring for
children. She’s from Jacksonville, FL. She attended
Florida A&M University and obtained a Bachelor’s
of Science in Health Science. She worked at the
Broach for two years as a science teacher. She also
worked at the Arc of St. John’s.
Mrs. Irwin’s Favorite book is “The Purpose Driven
Life,” By: Rick Warren. Some of her hobbies
include drawing, writing skits & puppet shows,
and going to sci-fi movies with her husband. In
her free time, she enjoys surfing the net and
exercising at the gym. Her interests outside of
work are volunteering at 12-step support groups
and bible study. She has her B.A in education and
has worked in the medical field. Mrs. Irwin is
from New York, and she was raised in New Jersey.
An interesting fact about her is that she used to
have an animal lab with over 70 different animals
and reptiles. Dogs are her favorite animals.
...Innovative Educators
Rebecca Borg
English Instructor
Tracy Moore
Registrar Assistant
Ms. Borg’s favorite author is Kurt Vonnegut. Some
of her hobbies include collecting vinyl records (she
has over 100). In her free time, she enjoys watching
TV, hanging with her boyfriend and son, and
also going to concerts and the beach. Outside of
work she loves to listen to music and write. Ms.
Borg has tutored, been a scorer for standardized
tests, and worked in the education field for some
time. She’s from Jacksonville, FL A fun fact is that
she is a proud mother of an amazing one-year-old
named Kadin.
Mrs. Moore is a very family oriented person, who
enjoys reading books to young children. She
graduated from Jacksonville Job corps ( CTT/ O.A.)
and has been working with JJCC for over 11 years.
Something interesting about Mrs. Moore is that
she truly enjoys working with young people.
De’Andra Jackson
Administrative Assistant
Chiquita McDuffie
Community Liaison
Ms. Jackson’s favorite book is” Knowledge of Self: A Collection of
Wisdom on the Science of Everything Life,” By: Dr. Supreme
Allah. Some of her hobbies are cooking, baking, and
choreography for her majorette team, as well as home DIY
projects. In her free time, she surfs the web, Skype’s and Face
Time’s with friends. She also likes meditating, enjoys doing hair,
shopping, traveling, singing and hanging out with friends/family.
Ms. Jackson attended Virginia College and Norfolk State
University. She was in the U.S Navy, worked for President
Obama, and she has been working in education since 2013.
Mrs. McDuffie’s favorite book is “Mama,” By: Terry
McMillan. Her hobbies are reading, fishing and researching. She
spends her free time with her family, doing anything that they
decide to do for fun. Mrs. McDuffie has a Bachelor of Arts in
English from the University of North Florida and a Master of Public
Administration also from UNF. She worked at Tiger Academy
Elementary School as a receptionist for four years., and has also
tutored English on the collegiate level. An interesting fact is that
she has a high interest in seeing others succeed and a severe dislike
for seeing others suffer..
Meet Our Innovative Educators
Cachete Hird
English/ESOL Instructor
Ms. Hird doesn’t have a favorite book but recently finished “Me
before You,” By: Jojo Moyes and she truly enjoyed it. Her hobbies
include reading, collecting movies, cross stitching and OPI nail
polish. She likes to spend her free time with her sorority sisters of
“Sigma Lambda Gamma Sorority Inc.” Some of her interests are
hanging with her church group, volunteering with SSC Kids
department and trying new things. Ms. Hird has a Bachelors in Mass
Communications-Telecommunications from Bloomsburg University
of Pennsylvania, and a Masters in Elementary Education & TESOL
from the University of North Florida. She’s from Allentown
Pennsylvania. An interesting fact about her is that her first name is
French meaning hidden treasure and she’s half Puerto Rican on her
father’s side.
Yelain Del Pino
Office Administration
Ms. Del Pino’s favorite book is “Flight to Freedom,” By: Ana
Veciana-Suarez. Her favorite hobby is listening and dancing to
Latin music. In her free time, she enjoys traveling or watching
television. An interest of hers is technology and phones. Her
educational background includes customer service, Microsoft
specialization, and office administration. She’s from Camaguey,
Cuba. For fun, she absolutely loves to go out dancing.
Chandra Simmons
Registrar
Ms. Simmons's favorite book is "God Help the Child," By:
Toni Morrison. Her hobbies include all forms of sports. She
has a Master's in Business Administration. Ms.
Simmons is originally from Ocala Florida. An interesting and
fun fact about Ms. Simmons is that she likes to have fun
dancing.
Ian Flemming
Social Studies Instructor
Mr. Fleming’s favorite book series go back and forth
between the Harry Potter or the Game of Thrones. His
favorite hobbies are fishing, kayaking, hiking, mountain
biking, or anything to do with the outdoors. He has a
Bachelors in History from the University of North
Florida. SALTech is his first teaching position. Mr.
Fleming was born and raised here in Jacksonville,
Florida. He loves to read and travel.
Vivian Camacho
Virtual Technology Assistant
Ms. Camacho is a High School Graduate from
Miami Springs Senior High School. She has an
Associates Degree in Environmental Studies, from
Miami-Dade College. She is currently working on
a Bachelor's Degree at the University of North
Florida. She has worked in several roles, including
Catering, Administrative Assistant, Buyers
Assistant, Inventory Clerk, Quality Assurance
Representative, and Educational Assistant, before
coming onboard at SALTech. Ms. Camacho has currently been at SALTech for
over four years. Ms. Camacho is from Hialeah, Florida.
SALTech Road Runners Program
SALTech Road Runners
We hit the streets of Downtown Jacksonville’s Rosa Parks station and Hemming Plaza to let our community know
about the inspirational works going on at SALTech Charter High School . We had the opportunity to speak with some
great people and build camaraderie. Additionally, we had the chance to visit the Mary Lena Gibbs
Community Center, Emmett Reed Community Center, The Sanctuary @ Mt. Calvary, Live Music Lives Here in Hemming Park ,the CW 17, and the Back to School SmARTs Artwalk Downtown. What a wonderful time to be a part of the
SALTech Family!!! The team’s chemistry is absolutely amazing and great things are being done in preparation for what’s
to come!
Purpose
SALTech Charter High School's purpose is to break the cycle of poverty and underachievement for youth who have dropped out of the traditional education system.
Mission
SALTech Charter High School will provide our “at-promise” students with a complete
real life learning experience while encouraging them to strive for
academic excellence through a rigorous, competency-based, and challenging
curriculum.
Vision
SALTech Charter High School is committed to delivering a rigorous
individualized curriculum for our “at-promise” students that allows them to
accomplish their academic goals and become life long learners in an
www.SALTechJax.org
Core Values
Optimism - We believe in your success!
Excellence - We hold ourselves accountable everyday for reaching our
goals
Courage - We are solidly student-centered in our decision making,
prioritizing the needs of students academic success is our number one
goal
Teamwork - We believe that an excellent team makes the dream work
and will positively impact student achievement
The School for Accelerated Learning and Technologies, Inc.
(SALTech) is Regionally Accredited by AdvancED—the parent
organization of The North Central Association CASI and Southern
Association of Colleges and School CASI and the Northwest
Accrediting Commission.
4811 Payne Stewart Drive
Jacksonville, FL 32209
Phone: 904.328.5001
Fax: 904.768.8618