Manatee County School District teacher named Discovery champion

BRADENTON -- A new Discovery Education program has tapped a Manatee County teacher as one of 14 educators to help shape and lead a new K-12 initiative.

Francie Snyder, 47, who teaches gifted children at Oneco and Prine elementary schools in Manatee County, was chosen as a Discovery Education Program Champion for the 2015-16 school year.

"It's a company that truly cares about educators," Snyder said of Discovery.

Discovery Education provides online content for teachers, as well as professional development.

Snyder, a Sarasota resident, began using the offerings in 2010, as a way to help supplement education opportunities -- like virtual field trips -- she otherwise wouldn't be able to offer students.

Discovery Education worked with more than 3 million educators and 30 million students and is available in half of U.S. classrooms, more than 40 percent of primary schools in the United Kingdom and in more than 50 countries overall, according to Discovery officials. Districts pay a fee for online content.

The program champions are assigned an area of focus. Snyder's area is health and wellness, but the champions can help spread the word of the different offerings to other teachers, advise developers on new programs and represent Discovery Education at events and conferences.

"Discovery Education is proud to recognize Francie as a program champion," Lance Rougeux, vice president of learning communities and instructional implementation for Discovery Education, said in a statement. "Francie is an outstanding educator and has a wealth of experience using Discovery Education's programs and

resources."

The champions officially started work after a two-day launch conference in October and Snyder said she's already been put to work.

"We've given some feedback on a few projects already," Snyder said. "Discovery really prides themselves on asking and listening to teacher opinions."

Additional components Discovery offers are essential for Snyder's job with gifted students, she said. In her classes, there are no textbooks, and with cutbacks on funding for field trips and other resources, Snyder has to get creative.

"This really helps my world and helps my students," she said. "You start to see kids get excited about the world coming into their classroom."

One of Snyder's favorite offerings are virtual field trips for students to coincide with history, social studies and current events. Snyder said it's unlikely she'd ever be able to raise the money to take her students to see the polar bears or learn about the tundra, but Discovery's offerings allow her to do just that.

"We can't afford field trips now, so it's allowing the world to come into the classroom," she said.

Snyder said she is proud to be working with Discovery, but the major benefit is not for her.

"My students are the ones who benefit the most," she said. "That's the benefit of my being involved with this."

Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter @MeghinDelaney.

This story was originally published January 2, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Manatee County School District teacher named Discovery champion ."