(public speaker) Kathleen Duba - TheNewsTribune.com

Since joining the 20,800-student Pasadena district in 2001, Duba has had to oversee deep budget cuts and the closure of four elementary schools due to enrollment losses. At the same time, more district schools raised their performance on California's academic index, a scale ranging from 200 to 1,000 based on student test scores. In 2001, only one district school was meeting the state target of 800 or higher on the index, and three were over 700. Former School Board member Peter Soelter credits the improvement to Duba, citing her focus on student achievement, leadership in adopting language arts and math curriculum, teacher training, and work to bring the arts into the classroom. Darrel Tayler, who worked with Duba as Pasadena's interim superintendent, describes her as a good public speaker whose calm demeanor and depth of knowledge reduced tensions when community members spoke harshly about the district at School Board meetings. I have never worked in a school district or school that was not diverse. read more

Tags: fear speaking in public, the art of public speaking, district, 700, public speaking classes, schools