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Office
of Professional Development
The Office of Professional
Development (OPD) at Heartland
Educational Consortium (HEC) became an
additional resource and support for the
six rural districts in February, 2005.
The OPD organizes and provides
a variety of professional learning
opportunities for executive,
administrative, instructional, and
support personnel to assist them in
their quest for improving their
efficiency and effectiveness in boosting
overall student achievement. The OPD
views professional development as a
vital conduit in helping each of the
school districts in achieving their own
district goals by ensuring a variety of
development opportunities that tap
stakeholders’ potential while enhancing
the knowledge and skills needed for
professional growth.
The two member Professional
Development team includes the Director,
Dr. Debra Elliott and a part time
secretary, Donna Varady.
Debra Elliott has been with the
OPD as Director since its beginning in
2005. She has over 35 years of
experience in Florida public schools as
a paraprofessional, classroom teacher,
Principal, Coordinator of Staff
Development, Coordinator of Human
Resources and Staff Development and
Director of Professional Development at
HEC. Her duties include
leadership/administrative training and
coordinating every aspect of
professional learning that the districts
deem important and necessary. Debra is a
past president for the Florida
Association of Staff Development (FASD)/Learning
Forward and has served on the FASD board
since 2000. She is a certified
Professional Development Protocol
Reviewer and represents the six
districts at the Leadership
Collaborative of the Anchin Center at
the University of South Florida.
Over the past two years she has
been an active member of the Leadership
Team and Coach for the Executive Leaders
Program (ELP) that USF Anchin Center
sponsors, along with funding and
partnership of the Educational Testing
Service (ETS) out of the Florida and the
Islands Comprehensive Center (FLICC) and
the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE).
Donna Varady is a veteran
employee of HEC with over 11 years
experience. She has served the
districts through a variety of
initiatives, grants and programs
including, but not limited to the
Florida Migrant Interstate Project,
Title I, Alternative Certification, SES
and now Professional Development. She is
a valuable asset and is a critical
player in maintaining open lines of
communication between HEC and the six
districts as she assists in coordinating
all professional development training
from advertisement and registration to
set-up, evaluation and closure for all
professional learning.
Heartland Educational
Consortium strives to align professional
development to the standards for
professional
learning from
Learning Forward (formerly known as
NSDC) which was revised in 2011.
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