{"id":333136,"date":"2026-07-08T14:22:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T14:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/333136\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T14:22:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T14:22:08","slug":"teacher-feature-slc-educator-uses-immigration-experiences-to-teach-students-life-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/333136\/","title":{"rendered":"Teacher Feature: SLC educator uses immigration experiences to teach students life skills"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 Teacher Feature is sponsored by Kogan & Disalvo<\/a> Personal Injury Law.<\/p>\n

Even though it’s summer, we’re continuing to highlight teachers who went above and beyond spring semester.<\/p>\n

CBS12 News next \u201cTeacher Feature<\/a>\u201d within St. Lucie Public Schools is an 8th grade ELA teacher at Samuel S. Gaines Academy in Fort Pierce. Alcia Hanson immigrated from Jamaica to the United States about 15 years ago and uses her life experiences to teach her students skills in the classroom and the real world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that one of the best things that a teacher can do for students is teach them how to be empathetic, understand the different ways that, you know, other people in the world might live or think. And because I have that experience, I’m able to share that with them,\u201d said Hanson.<\/p>\n

Hanson says she felt a calling towards teaching 8th Grade.<\/p>\n

“This is the age when I believe that they’re still trying to figure out who they are, and I do believe that there’s so much that I can offer in the way of helping them make, you know, some of the most difficult choices that they may need to make at this point,\u201d said Hanson. \u201cAdditionally, this is generally the point too where they start taking things, you know, a little bit more seriously, um, we get to mold them so that they can, you know, just become more\u2014 the best versions of themselves, really<\/p>\n

Hanson says she\u2019s not only teaching her students the curriculum, but also helping them learn who they are at that pivotal age.<\/p>\n

See also: Airport rebranding continues with new road signs going up along Turnage Boulevard<\/a><\/p>\n

“We are a ‘Leader in Me school,’ which means that we are big on developing the leadership skills that they have. So, if you just look around, we’re all about, you know, making sure that they learn how to be proactive, beginning with the end in mind, so always having a goal,\u201d said Hanson. \u201cRight now, they’re learning the skills that they will need in order to be successful when they become adults, and this is the best time to do that.<\/p>\n

Hanson says at the beginning of each school year, students have to sign up for the individual jobs they want for ‘Leader in Me school,\u201d which also teaches them life skills for the real world as well.<\/p>\n

“I think of the school community as a microcosm of the larger society. So, if they’re getting the practice now, they won’t be fazed when they’re older,\u201d said Hanson. \u201cI think a lot of us were very intimidated when we left college and, you know, had to start looking for jobs. But now they have some practice, \u2018I sort of know what the expectation is. Now I’m going to develop that, build on that, and put my best foot forward.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Samuel Gaines Academy is a K-8 Schools. With Hanson\u2019s 8th graders at the top of the school, teaching leadership is a top priority.<\/p>\n

Hanson says they have so many programs and opportunities for the 8th graders to help the younger students. Sometimes her 8th graders go into younger classrooms to help out with work, or team up with a younger grade for morning circles, or keeping track of 8th grade portfolios to show the younger kids what they have to look forward to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT PIERCE, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 Teacher Feature is sponsored by Kogan & Disalvo Personal Injury Law. Even though…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":333137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172],"class_list":["post-333136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}