By Georgia Jackson, University Communications and Marketing
The University of South Florida will award more than 4,400 degrees to students from all three campuses during fall commencement ceremonies on Friday, Dec. 8, and Saturday, Dec. 9 at the Yuengling Center on the Tampa campus.
Among those graduating are the outstanding Thomas Burt and Rachel Cacace of the College of Education at USF Sarasota-Manatee, whose stories illustrate the value of graduate education.
Thomas Burt
Thomas Burt credits his students for inspiring him to take the next step as a teacher
The Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program turned out to be exactly what Thomas Burt was looking for when he enrolled at USF Sarasota-Manatee last year.
“I owe so much to the professors and the support they provided,” said Burt, who will graduate from the program this fall. “They made it clear that support is going to be there even when you leave the program.”
An experienced educator and coach, Burt has known for some time that he is passionate about working with kids. After completing a bachelor’s degree in communication studies at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota, he worked as a paraprofessional in the local school district and coached baseball, basketball and soccer.
“No matter what I was doing, in some capacity, I always gravitated toward working with kids,” he said.
The realization inspired Burt to relocate to Florida, where he could be closer to family, and pursue a career in education full time. Soon, Burt was teaching at a Title I school in Hillsborough County.
“I had some great mentor teachers,” Burt said of his colleagues in Hillsborough County. “But I didn’t have that formal training or education. I had some successes, but there was also a lot of learning through failure. I realized I had my own professional development to do on my side of things.”
So, Burt enrolled in the MAT program at USF Sarasota-Manatee, where he spent four consecutive semesters working alongside experienced elementary mentor teachers and building relationships and connections with professionals at local schools. The program is designed for individuals who have a bachelor's degree in a field outside of education and who wish to become certified elementary education teachers. Graduates earn the state of Florida English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Endorsement and Reading Endorsement.
“It was a really wonderful experience,” Burt said. “Just unrelenting support and guidance from the professors. I owe so much to my cohort members, too. I really couldn't have asked for a better situation.”
This fall, Burt interned in a fifth-grade classroom at Ballard Elementary School in Bradenton. In the new year, he will take charge of his very own third grade class, where he plans to implement engaging activities — like using his guitar to teach multiples to the tune of “Old McDonald” a trick he picked up from his own third-grade teacher.
"There’s a sense of believing in myself and knowing I can get the job done,” said Burt, who attributes his confidence to the full-time internship and the students he interacted with at Ballard. “The whole culture of the school honestly is super supportive. I couldn't be more thankful or fortunate. It feels like home.”
Rachel Cacace
Rachel Cacace presented her final M.Ed. research project before the USF Professional Learning Alliance
Thanks to the McCracken Educators Scholarship, Rachel Cacace was able to enroll in the Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Educational Leadership program at USF Sarasota-Manatee. After spending two years teaching in middle and high schools in Hillsborough and Manatee counties, Cacace’s goal was to build her leadership skills to support teachers.
“I had a lot of really great mentors at the undergraduate level,” said Cacace, who graduated from the University of Tampa with a bachelor’s degree in secondary biology education. “I had a cooperating teacher who gave me so many resources and was always somebody I could ask questions to without judgment. That was so valuable, and I want to be able to give that back to somebody else.”
Cacace was awarded the McCracken Educators Scholarship after writing an essay about the value of what she calls “silent leadership,” or leading by example. Most important for Cacace is a leader’s ability to give others the benefit of the doubt and not take things personally.
“I'm always trying to find out what is it that's causing students to behave a certain way,” Cacace said. “How can I support them as opposed to just blaming it on something?”
For Cacace, whose education at the University of Tampa was also supported by scholarships, the McCracken Educators Scholarship meant “everything.”
“It meant I was able to come to a school like USF without worrying that I was going to have to pay out of pocket, which made all the difference in my decision to pursue a master's degree,” said Cacace, who taught science to eighth graders at Dr. Mona Jain Middle School in Lakewood Ranch while completing the online program.
As Cacace prepares to graduate this fall, she continues to look for ways to support her students and fellow teachers. She is the leader of a professional development committee and coordinating the science fair. She also has plans to present a paper she authored with Charles Vanover, an associate professor of educational leadership and policy studies, at the Eastern Educational Research Association in February.
"Because of the program’s small size, I was able to create relationships with the faculty and ask them, like, hey, can we do a research project together?” Cacace said. “And they were willing to do it.”
Visit usf.edu/education/about-us/sarasota-manatee-campus to learn more about the College of Education at USF Sarasota-Manatee.