Creative Educator Spotlight: Fredy Padovan
Did your Childhood influences and upbringing have a direct correlation to what you do today?
I consider myself lucky in that I had several excellent teachers throughout my education journey and through their examples I was able to pull one or two character traits or teacher traits into my own life. As young as third grade all the way up to professors in my masters program each offered a unique insight into the craft of teaching.
When did you know the the education industry was for you?
In my mid-20s I was working in property management when I got the call from my high school principal asking if I would be interested in working part-time in Alumni Relations. While in that role we lost our computer graphics teacher and since I knew how to use the Adobe suite I filled in for a quarter. I really enjoyed it. When the class understood a concept or made their own learning connections, those magical moments fueled the spark for wanting to go all into education.
How did your training or schooling prepare you for your job?
I believe that the most valuable training I received was in my masters program at Belmont University in Nashville. The focus was in Education but in Organizational Leadership. The courses in organizational culture, change, and behaviors served very useful as I moved into administration roles and in my own consulting as I was better equipped to facilitate change within schools but also provide strategies to make it stick long term.
What was the greatest obstacle you had to overcome in pursuing your career?
Certification! I think any teacher knows, especially if you are coming from an industry, that there is a lot you need to do to get your professional certification. Once I moved into admin all of that doubled in order to get the necessary courses and tests to become certified, but it was a challenge that I fully embraced and I felt very accomplished receiving the endorsements to the Florida Professional Certificate.
Who would you name as the most influential person in shaping your career? Why?
My career in education technology would not have been fully possible without Sr. Kim Keraitis. She is the current principal of my former high school, Immaculata-La Salle, and the place where I was able to help transform the school through their 1:1 iPad program and the reimagining of the learning spaces. She allowed me to explore, sometimes crazy, ideas and work to make all of our faculty and students comfortable with using technology outside of just productivity.
If you can give one piece of advice to a student thinking about education today, what would it be?
Education is what you make of it. If you think you are bored, you will be bored. The expectation that all of your classes will be easy or fun is unrealistic. Rather, it is very important to learn to be adaptable. This skill can be very useful for any career and if it can be acquired going through PK-20 education it will serve any student well. So how can you adapt to a difficult course or an “easy” class? That’s the real challenge.
If you could be compensated for your work with something other than money, what would it be?
Travel gift cards (websites like Expedia, Orbitz, etc) for many reasons: 1) I really enjoy traveling, 2) it would allow me to provide moments throughout the year to help some teachers reach PD opportunities when travel funds are unavailable), 3) I would have a bit more flexibility to provide workshops and consulting to schools with more limited budgets.
To learn more about Fredy’s , please visit:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredypadovan/
