- May 2, 2024
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Years as an attorney and prosecutor showed Thrall how education can affect people’s life trajectories.
In his 15 years of practicing law as both a general practitioner and a prosecutor, James Thrall noticed something that many people in trouble had in common.
“Many of those in need of the most help were those individuals that had stumbled in their education and had trouble reading and writing,” Thrall wrote in his application for the Teacher of the Year award. “When receiving written correspondence from these clients, with the misspelled words and reckless grammar, I felt sorrow.
Thrall earned his law degree in Michigan in 1995. But he later decided to become an educator, coming to DeLand Middle School in 2014, then to Buddy Taylor Middle School as a seventh-grade teacher in 2017. He started at iFlagler, the district’s virtual instruction program, in 2020, teaching seventh grade through high school subjects including civics, U.S. history and U.S. government, economics, law studies, journalism and English.
During the 15 years that I practiced law, as both a prosecuting attorney and a general practitioner, I saw something that many of those in trouble had in common. Many of those in need of the most help, were those individuals that had stumbled in their education and had trouble reading and writing.”
— JAMES THRALL, iFlagler Teacher of the Year
“Teaching inspires smiles, excitement, and growth in knowledge that leads to success,” he wrote. “The spark of knowledge turns to light, chasing away the opaque shadows in the unenlightened mind as the student tackles, overcomes and understands concepts, gains insight and grows in education. … What was once difficult for the student, becomes accessible, straightforward, painless and obvious.”
Virtual students learn from home over the computer, “depriving virtual teachers from the daily face to face contact that brick-and-mortar teachers enjoy,” Thrall wrote.
Thrall provides supplementary materials like video lessons and reviews and allows students to schedule unlimited individual instruction by clicking a time slot on his calendar. But not all of his instruction is online-only: His voluntary “Fortress Fridays” review sessions help students by providing individual or small group instruction in-person at the iFlagler campus.
Teaching inspires smiles, excitement, and growth in knowledge that leads to success. … What was once difficult for the student, becomes accessible, straightforward, painless and obvious.”
— JAMES THRALL, iFlagler Teacher of the Year
Thrall created a review for the state civics end of course exam. One hundred percent of the students who attended Thrall’s civics review sessions passed the state’s end of course exam, he wrote.
Thrall, who is certified to teach social sciences and English, uses cross-curricular instruction to improve student outcomes.
“I incorporate language arts and reading practice when providing individual instruction,” he wrote. “It is my common practice to teach language arts skills as students learn civics. One can readily see reading comprehension skills being developed, including practice in summarizing passages and finding central ideas juxtaposed with civics curriculum.”
