Teacher Spotlight: Joanna Fox

Booker Middle School creative writing teacher Joanna Fox’s classroom resembles an underground French poetry café: dimly lit with a mix of kitchen tables and mismatched chairs.

Fox says the homey atmosphere fosters creativity and creates a welcoming environment for her students to showcase their work each quarter, when Fox’s classroom is transformed into the Dragonfly Café. Students read their poetry on stage for their families and classmates.

“It’s like coming home,” Fox says of the feeling her students and newcomers alike experience when they enter her classroom.

Fox’s teaching career began close to home as well — she started by volunteering at her children’s schools. At her son’s suggestion, she earned her degree in English education from the University of South Florida and has been teaching at Booker Middle since 2000.

Fellow teachers and students praise Fox for her enthusiasm and personal approach to teaching. She affectionately refers to her students as “dragonflies,” a nickname she came up with because of a dragonfly pendant her sister gave her.

Fox says the best part about her job is seeing her students grow as individuals through writing.

“When they read a poem that is so original that no one else could have come up with it and they recognize how wonderful that is, that, to me, is the best part,” Fox says.

Contact Harriet Sokmensuer at [email protected]