Dr. Angela Murphy Osborne, Florida's Principal of the Year and a candidate to win the national award, said her success began at home. She gives all the credit to her parents.
"Growing up, my parents took on daycare and foster kids," Osborne said. "And I saw them as a child always wanting to make a difference. And so through life, I've always wanted to make a difference."
Osborne certainly has made a difference, too.
She led Ocoee's Spring Lake Elementary School for more than 14 years to become a top-performing school in the district.
"It's important to have good teachers, but it's also important to have good teachers who are teaching the right standards," Osborne said.
In two years, Osborne helped Palmetto Elementary School jump from an F-rated school to an A-rated school.
"Just like at Spring Lake, I became very close to those children," Osborne said. "I love, love, love those children."
Now, Osborne is starting with a clean slate at the brand-new Independence Elementary School in Winter Garden.
"But we're starting with a slate that we're going to be the best in Orange County (Public) Schools," she said.
Osborne's philosophy includes small group teaching for math and reading. She rewards work well done.
"Incentives are very big for me," Osborne said. "I believe in incentives. I know everyone has a different opinion about incentives, but at Palmetto, if children came to tutoring 80 percent of the time or more and we had over 100 sessions of tutoring three days a week and Saturdays that we would take them to LEGOLAND."
Osborne also knows that sometimes the best reward for hard work is a pat on the back.
"I always tell the kids when they do well or they accomplish something they maybe didn't think they could accomplish — or even if they tried and got it partially mastered — of how proud I am and the teachers also," she said. "It's like a proud parent. It really is."