{"id":6630,"date":"2018-04-13T09:06:05","date_gmt":"2018-04-13T13:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/?p=6630"},"modified":"2018-04-16T16:24:42","modified_gmt":"2018-04-16T20:24:42","slug":"the-drive-to-succeed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/2018\/04\/13\/the-drive-to-succeed\/","title":{"rendered":"The Drive to Succeed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alumna Reflects on University Connections<\/em><\/h2>\n

\"AnnAnn Levett\u2019s distinguished career has come full circle, thanks to her new job as superintendent of the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS). It\u2019s where she grew up as a student and where she began her teaching career four decades ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just seems, somedays, like it was destined to happen,\u201d Levett said. \u201cAs a proud product of the public schools and lifelong educator, I have a strong sense of knowing what the needs are. I have connections to the community and a vested interest in the success of our community. By me being in this position, I have a view that someone else may not have who comes from the outside.\u201d<\/p>\n

The graduate of Savannah\u2019s Beach High School also has strong connections to the newly consolidated Georgia Southern University. Levett earned a Bachelor of Science in speech and language pathology from Armstrong, and a master\u2019s in special education and a master\u2019s in public administration from Georgia Southern. Her doctoral degree in educational administration came from the University of Georgia. The superintendent discovered her passion for education at an early age.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was maybe six or seven when I decided that I wanted to be a teacher,\u201d the alumna said. \u201cI think it\u2019s because I am the oldest in my family and I always enjoyed playing the role of the teacher. I enjoyed seeing my sisters and brothers learn and I think that\u2019s what got me going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Levett\u2019s rise up the education ranks has been remarkable. Her many titles include special education teacher, high school principal, deputy superintendent, and higher education positions at Antioch University, Yale University School of Medicine and Macon State College\/Middle Georgia State College.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe power to work with others and make a positive difference in the lives of kids and families. That is what I have enjoyed the most,\u201d she said. \u201cThe fact that through my daily work I can be encouraging, create opportunities and empower people. I think anytime that you can help people realize their own potential, then that\u2019s what you ought to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Levett was the dean of teacher education at Macon State College when it consolidated with Middle Georgia College. In her current position as SCCPSS superintendent, she is hopeful the new Georgia Southern will create greater opportunities for her students, teachers and staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe enjoyed a good relationship with Armstrong and with Georgia Southern and we are looking forward to strengthening that partnership,\u201d she said. \u201cAnytime you merge or consolidate, people will ask \u2018what difference is it going to make?\u2019 As a person who is concerned about future learning opportunities for students, that\u2019s what I am looking for. The plan sounds promising so I am hoping we will see those plans and enhancements come to fruition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Levett still cherishes the close relationships she developed with some of her college classmates. They have stayed in touch and fondly recall their time on campus, \u201cwhether it was crying over something, celebrating our achievements, or being irritated by something that didn\u2019t work as well as we wanted it to work,\u201d said Levett, who attends Eagle football games. \u201cI also have reached out to some of my former professors who are not necessarily on the campus anymore to remind them of the positive difference they made in my life. As to Georgia Southern, I still have a little bit of blue running through my veins. You can\u2019t go through an institution and be involved in its life and not have some affinity for it or some feeling about it. An institution is an institution. It\u2019s the people that make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Sandra Bennett<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alumna Reflects on University Connections Ann Levett\u2019s distinguished career has come full circle, thanks to her new job as superintendent of the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS). It\u2019s where she grew up as a student and where she began her teaching career four decades ago. \u201cIt just seems, somedays, like it was destined to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":6631,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[56],"class_list":["post-6630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","tag-spring-2018"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}