With a population of over 80,000 people, there is a culture of community across the 50 islands and cays that make up the US Virgin Islands (USVI). “We live in an island. We’re all about family. Everyone knows everyone,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Carla Bastian-Knight said of USVI schools.
In fact, when recognizing the 2024 USVI Teacher of the Year, Ms. Astral Battiste, Dr. Bastian Knight could personally speak on Ms. Battiste’s practice. Years ago, Ms. Battiste was her son’s kindergarten teacher. “He just graduated from 12th grade and Ms. Battiste is still present in [my son’s] life,” said Dr. Bastian-Knight.
Ms. Battiste’s investment and commitment to her students and families is what has made her a standout educator. As the 2024 USVI Teacher of the Year, Battiste continued to support families throughout the islands and launched a literacy and early childhood education campaign. We had the opportunity to chat with Ms. Battiste about her literacy initiative, supporting families in her community, and teaching tips for new teachers.
USVI Superintendent of Schools Dr. Carla Bastian-Knight speaks on Ms. Astral Battiste's impact on students and the community.
Advocating for literacy
With nearly two decades of kindergarten teaching experience, Ms. Battiste knows the importance of early childhood literacy. That’s why as USVI Teacher of the Year, she created a campaign promoting reading and writing across the island. Ms Battiste toured different schools providing tools like books and pencils to students.
In her own kindergarten classroom, Ms. Battiste instills a love of reading with the help of HMH literacy solutions, like Into Reading and Waggle. With Into Reading, Ms. Battiste provides her students with engaging, research-based content aligned to the latest training in early literacy. Plus, she can meet students’ individual needs with the help of data and reporting. “I get to provide those different instruction groups for them based on the assessments,” she says.
See how HMH has supported Ms. Battiste and other USVI teachers in implementing HMH solutions.
Supporting families
Throughout her career, Ms. Battiste has made family engagement a driving force behind her work in education. Even during her time as USVI Teacher of the Year, she continued cultivating strong, supportive relationships with families in her community. Ms. Battiste started a class for parents and caregivers. In that class, she was able to provide families the tools to teach their children to read. Ms. Battiste expanded her outreach by offering support to families through social media, regularly sharing literacy quotes and practical tips to help both students and their caregivers.
Ms. Battiste shares how she provided literacy support to families across the US Virgin Islands as 2024 USVI Teacher of the Year.
Teaching tips for new teachers
Ms. Battiste has practical tips for those entering the teaching profession. She advises new teachers to build connections with students and families to be seen as a trusted teacher. She also suggests new teachers to turn to seasoned teachers for support. Ms. Battiste leaned on a more veteran colleague herself for teaching strategies and lesson plan modeling when she was starting out.
Teachers like Ms. Battiste remind us that teaching is more than just about the curriculum. It’s about connection, care, and commitment. Her dedication to students and families continues to leave a lasting impact in USVI schools. As Dr. Bastian-Knight puts it, "You know Ms. Battiste cares. You can feel it. She speaks it. Her engagement and interaction with the children, it’s something that you just want to sprinkle everywhere."
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HMH core, intervention, and supplemental programs are rooted in the science of reading. Find out more about our evidence-based approach to teaching a child to read.
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