As a literacy coach, Camile Earle understands the power of words, and knows that labeling students as "low achievers" with "behavioral problems" only masks the true potential within them. For this reason she deliberately seeks out such students, hoping to change their destinies by changing how they see themselves. To accomplish this goal, she facilitates rather than lectures in the classroom, creating a framework for lessons and then encouraging her students to personalize the subject matter. In the process they gain confidence as they create their own literary voices and writing styles. Before she became actively involved in what Principal Carmen Ruiz calls the "Rebirth of Barringer High School," Ms. Earle helped more than 95 percent of her students score proficient or advanced on state assessments at her previous school. For two years in a row, she had her students present her highly effective reading and writing strategies to principals and educators at the Seton Hall Middle-Level Conference and at various campuses within the Newark Public Schools: ideal messengers for a message of excellence in education.
