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Jody Slaughter '85, was selected for the role of director of school and community partnerships within the College of Education and Human Development.

After receiving her accounting degree from Â鶹ÊÓƵ in 1985 and spending 16 years in the business world, Slaughter pursued her career in education. She taught third grade at Little Cypress Mauriceville, working as a reading specialist, and interventionist and ultimately became the director of state and federal programs for the district.

Slaughter continued her career working for federal programs with the Beaumont Independent School District before being promoted to chief innovation officer. In this role, she was responsible for forming partnerships with charter schools to further the educational goals of the district. Most recently she worked with the Bob Hope School system as the Chief of Schools before accepting the position at Â鶹ÊÓƵ.

Slaughter found her passion for education through experiences with her first daughter who suffered from severe auditory processing problems. These issues hindered her ability to learn in the classroom. “One of her teachers told me that she would probably be one of those kids who would never learn to read or write,” Slaughter said. “I went home and told my husband that was simply not okay.”

From then on, she made it her mission to instruct and advocate for students with learning disorders. “I spent much of my time working with the ESL and special needs kids and because of my daughter, I was able to have real intuitiveness about what a child’s needs were,” Slaughter said.

“The COEHD has made an intentional decision to augment our relationships with schools and other community partners,” said Dr. Robert Spina, dean of the College of Education and Human Development. “It is clear that these partnerships need to be strategic, purposeful and clearly articulated. We look forward to Jody being a key member of the team to help us accomplish these goals.”

As the director of school and community partnerships, Slaughter hopes to form a strong support system for instructors as they continue implementing classroom observations.

“I hope to create a team of people who are working together, going in the same direction and picking up the burden where someone else is having trouble carrying it. That’s the essence of what we’re here for,” Slaughter said. “This is such a good group of people. Everyone is extremely nice, and the culture here and what I’ve experienced here is so kind.”