Canva, Kids, And Coffee-Fueled Score Gains

The buzz of a great education conference can change a school year. From the floor of LACUE in New Orleans, we sit down with Gladys from St. Landry Parish to explore how curiosity about AI, beginner-friendly Canva workflows, and trusted practice materials can turn everyday lessons into steady student growth. She brings 15 years in the classroom to the table, sharing why those eureka moments still guide every decision and how thoughtful prompts help students discover ideas for themselves.

Website: spotlight4success.com 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Welcome to Spotlight for Success by American Book Company. I am Devin Pentosi, your host. We are here in New Orleans at the LACU 2025 Conference. We are here with our special guest, Gladys Melissaw. Thank you for joining us today.

Guest Introduction And Role

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

Wonderful. Gladys joins us from St. Larry Par uh St. Landry Parish, and uh we're looking forward to learning more about the things you're doing and uh what brings you here. Can you tell us a little bit about what brought you here to LACU?

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Well, in the past, I've heard so many good things about um the tools and resources that LACU offers for educators. So when I had the opportunity to sign up, I said um I was interested.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Oh, that's wonderful. Um, is there a particular um area of interest within LACU that you'd like to learn more about?

SPEAKER_00 0:57

Um expanding my knowledge on AI and I just attended a session on Canva for beginners, so I'm I'm interested in looking um into more about Canva.

Remembering Classroom Eureka Moments

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Oh, nice. Okay, great. And uh can you tell me a bit about is there a special moment like uh when you were in the classroom or or since then, um now that you're in the new position, where you're like, this is why I got into education?

SPEAKER_00 1:23

The light bulb moments for kids. Yes. Um when you know you try to probe them so that they can discover new information, and when they finally do hit that eureka, um, it's very um fulfilling.

Company Overview And Materials

SPEAKER_01 1:37

That's very fulfilling. That's awesome. That's gotta be, you know, that's that's a beautiful thing. Thank you for watching Spotlight for Success. I am David Pentosi, the chief operating officer of American Book Company. We are located here in our headquarters in Woodstock, Georgia. All of our materials are printed in the USA. We have to do it. These materials are all designed. You can get free samples of our materials either in print or in electronic format at abc12.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

It is.

District Use And Results

SPEAKER_01 2:35

Uh can you uh oh um can you let me know? Let's see, uh let's see what else we want to talk about. Do you use um I understand you you uh ordered a lot of materials in the classroom this year um or you have, and I know you've used for a couple companies, is that right?

SPEAKER_00 2:53

Our district did purchase um in 2022 some ABC books. Well prior to that, when I was in the classroom for 15 years, um, we did also use the ABC book, the Leap Practice Success Success Book. Great. And um I did see success with the book. Wonderful. And I'm hoping, well, this is a new position for me, but I'm also hoping that the teachers that I serve, their kids also grow based on um utilizing that book.

Commitment To Growth And Scores

SPEAKER_01 3:19

Oh, that's great. Yeah, well, you know we guarantee score improvements, so that's awesome, that's what we need.

SPEAKER_00 3:24

Yes, there we go.

Closing Thanks And Takeaway

SPEAKER_01 3:25

So that's wonderful. I'm glad you uh trusted us enough to go on ahead and order district wide now and see uh see what's to see. They should, absolutely, yes, they should. Absolutely. It's really important, you know, keep those scores high and and and get them higher. I always have those kids uh focused on achievement and success. I agree. Yeah, that's awesome. So um, do you have anything you'd like to share with the LACU community for them to like a takeaway to remember?

SPEAKER_00 3:52

Um, I just want to say thanks for the opportunity and keep advancing, educators, because technology um is gonna help mold the future learners.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

Oh, so true. Thanks so much. That's that's great. Uh once again, uh Gladys Melosaw, thank you for joining us today from St. Landry Parish.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

You're welcome. Thanks for having me.