SEATA & ATAF member Joe Underwood, ATC has been selected to the USA TODAY
All-Star teacher team.  Underwood is Asst. ATC at Miami High in Miami, FL and a member of the Florida Board of Athletic Training.

The following are excerpts from:

 http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2005-10-12-teacher-bios_x.htm &
 http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2005-10-12-all-usa-teachers_x.htm

 USA Today Press Release

Joseph Underwood Miami High TV production, moviemaking, entertainment law, grades 9-12 Years full-time teaching: 21 Nominated by: Benny Valdes, assistant principal

He: Started at Miami High in 1984 as an athletic trainer teaching three science classes; his passion for theater and for students led him to teach drama and then TV production, to develop a moviemaking course and last year, write a curriculum for an entertainment law class; Understands more Spanish than he speaks but gets the real language that matters to hardworking immigrant parents: opportunity for their children. "Every time I tried to do something in my life, there was someone behind me who said, 'You can do this. You will do this. I will get you what you need to succeed.' I want to be that person for my students," Underwood says; Reeled in more than $350,000 in grants to equip studios, enable students to film or videotape school activities. Most popular first assignment: make a family history home video as a holiday gift to parents; Uses scriptwriting, interviewing, computer graphics, film and video editing skills to teach reading and writing, helping boost standardized test scores; Arranges scores of internships in film, TV, graphics, public relations and communications for students, leading many graduates to college scholarships and jobs in media. "His attitude is to show us what professionals will expect of us. And he always knows we can do it," says Araceli Hernandez, 16. "We are his pride."

The personal touch

And for some team members, reaching each student on a personal level holds personal resonance.

• Although he has won more than $350,000 in grants to equip Miami High's studios and enable students to film or videotape school activities, Joseph Underwood sees his job teaching TV production and moviemaking as primarily finding a way to unlock the potential in every student.

Underwood was a salesman and an actor who had never considered teaching until 1984 when his father-inlaw, a Miami High administrator, suggested he try being an athletic trainer. Underwood fell in love with teaching and discovered the motivating power of passionate interest.

With the vast majority of his students coming from immigrant families, Underwood uses TV and movie production not only to work on language and writing skills but also to expand career possibilities. And he tries to light the spark in others. He finds internships for scores of students, such as Alexander Rescaglio, 17.

"My sophomore year he pulled me aside and told me he sees something in me. ... He saw that I could do this," says Rescaglio, who is working on the media website for the Orange Bowl Committee. "He gave me my future. He gave me an opportunity, and I took it."