Ask Bill Cecil, a 20-year veteran teacher, what he loves most about teaching and he will tell you very passionately that each year he gets to create, lead and be an active member of a “winning team.” Bill believes every teacher is a leader with a team to lead, and he has created a program called “Best Year Ever!” that provides teachers with a clear vision, blueprint, along with proven strategies to create a positive, safe and productive learning environment where individuals strive for personal best while working together to achieve team goals.

Bill graduated with honors from Western Michigan University with a Bachelor of Science Degree. While attending Western, Bill earned four varsity letters playing on the men’s soccer team and discovered his love of teaching while coaching youth soccer camps for the Broncos. Not only did Bill discover teaching through soccer, he learned the potential power a group of individuals have when they work together with a shared purpose or set of goals. He has incorporated those same teambuilding strategies into his own teaching with great success.

Bill was chosen Michigan Teacher of the Year for 2003-2004. Bill spent that year on sabbatical working for the Michigan Department of Education setting an ambitious goal to meet with as many educators, legislators, community members and teachers in training as possible. He wanted to help spread an “epidemic of hope and determination” throughout the state of Michigan and the country. He inspired them by saying now is a great time to be involved in education, we are all leaders with teams to lead, but we must to first believe we can achieve before we can meet and master the many challenges we currently face in education today.

What motivated Bill to write this book is his deep concern that too many novice teachers are leaving this tough but rewarding profession before they have a chance to taste success in their own classrooms. He believes losing 30-50 percent of our new teachers within their first five years is a problem that must be addressed in order to help create a healthy environment where every child can achieve. Bill wrote this book to help reach as many new teachers as possible with his winning management strategies while remaining in the classroom to continue to “practice what he preaches” others to do.

Bill has earned a reputation for being a dynamic speaker that provides rousing presentations and workshops on classroom management, team building, and leadership that are relevant, entertaining, and loaded with practical ideas and strategies. For information on Bill’s availability to speak to your organization or group, call 800-690-1233 or email me .