Stephanie Judice is always in between projects-and schools. As an English and fine arts teacher at both Westgate High School and New Iberia Senior High, both in New Iberia, LA, Judice is constantly inventing new ways of engaging her students creatively, intellectually and ethically. In her 12 years in education, Judice continually outdoes herself as she jumps from one classroom to the next, using highly creative teaching practices that require her students to be good pupils, artists and citizens.
For one of her English class final exams, Judice decided to create the Shakespeare Showdown where groups were involved in solving critical thinking puzzles to identify the different plays and their characters. For her world literature class, Judice led students through the process of creating a Celtic newsletter from scratch. Students were asked to use technology to format the newsletter, research to understand Celtic culture, and creative writing to produce the content. Judice's Crossroads Project gave students the opportunity to read poetry and present their creative works at a local Starbucks in front of their parents and local patrons. Each class publishes an anthology of its work.
Judice's students are involved in myriad community outreach projects. Judice spearheaded a campaign to raise money for a shelter housing abused women. "Santa Cause: Make a Reading Wonderland" is a program Judice started that raised money to give school supplies in personalized stockings to local elementary school students. Her students also volunteer at local elementary schools. Judice's commitment to intellectual curiosity, artistic expression and social responsibility manifests in every aspect of her teaching.
1993 Louisiana State University, B.A.
