Meet Jeremy Anderson
At PBIS Rewards we love people who can inspire and encourage, especially when it comes to educators. Teaching can be challenging in many ways, and it’s easy to get worn down. When we were seeking keynote speakers for PBIScon22, we immediately knew we wanted to hear from Jeremy Anderson again.
Jeremy was a keynote speaker at PBIScon21 and his message lifted the spirits of everyone worn down by more than a year of pandemic teaching. Ahead of his return to PBIScon22, we sat down and asked him a few questions. Here’s what he had to say:
Can you explain a little bit about your past? Why have you pursued supporting schools and helping students and teachers become the best version of themselves?
I grew up with a diagnosis of ADHD, the absence of my biological father, and repeated failure in school. In ninth grade, I actually went to three different schools. I even had a teacher in the eighth grade tell me that I was NOT high school material. Those experiences helped me to realize the importance and power of words.
So now, I’m extremely passionate about speaking to students to show them what’s possible if they put the work in. And I’m passionate about working with teachers to show them the power of the words that they speak, and how those words can make an impact in students’ lives. It wasn’t until my third school for the ninth grade that I finally came across a group of teachers who captured my heart, who spoke life to me, and who were patient with me. They helped me to get back on grade level and from there, I went to college and got a bachelor’s and master’s degree.
Can you share about your nonprofit, Next Level Living Inc.?
Our nonprofit here in the States, Next Level Living, supports low-income schools with educational resources. We also have a nonprofit organization in South Africa that feeds approximately 1,000 children every month. And we also just sponsored 40 students to go to college at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.
If you had to give one piece of advice to those in education right now, what would it be?
One piece of advice that I would give to every educator in the world is to teach by faith and not by sight. Oftentimes, educators will look at a student, either physically or look at their behavior in the past and will speak and teach from that place. So, I would stress the importance of teaching by faith and not by sight, seeing the best in their students and focusing on the whole child. That is something that we were intentional about doing with our next level students, PBIS and SEL character curriculum.
PBIScon22 is June 13-14, 2022
PBIS can help educators reach students in ways that really matter. That’s why PBIS Rewards is hosting our second annual VIRTUAL conference, PBIScon22, focusing on all things PBIS! Jeremy’s keynote will encourage you, inspire you, and give you the fuel you need to keep going.
Don’t miss PBIScon22 – register to attend today!
