LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Julia Solustri was nominated by her family member, Michele Granitz.

Mrs. Solustri is a teacher, mother, friend, mentor, and a person with a servant leader’s heart. She strives to Do Good in the lives of her students, every day.

A proven ability to make a beneficial difference in the lives of students

The community that Gregg Middle School serves is becoming increasingly diverse, and as a language arts teacher, Mrs. Solustri strongly believes that content matters. It's important that the content she chooses to expose the students to is representative of every student, their families, and the community. This school year, Mrs. Solustri requested to add the novel Refugee by Alan Gratz to the eighth-grade whole class novel selection. This young adult novel is a wonderful resource to open children’s hearts and minds and teach them to be more empathetic towards others.

The ability to create a positive school atmosphere

After a year of pandemic teaching and learning, Gregg Middle School, as with other schools, has many students who are struggling to keep up in a classroom this year. The students are often expected to function as though the pandemic never happened. This frustrates the students, as they feel like they cannot be successful in school. In turn, it frustrates parents because they feel like there is nothing they can do to support their student.

Mrs. Solustri decided to volunteer to be a part of the after-school tutoring program that helps students make up for content they may not have received during the 2020-2021 school year. She also works with the volunteer teachers on developing strong study and organizational skills, and she helps them stay on track with their classes for the current school year. In addition to being a part of the after-school program, Mrs. Solustri has been working with the administrative team at Gregg Middle School on making the program more inclusive. Currently, only students who can walk home at the end of the day or have a ride to pick them up are able to participate. While the program is highly beneficial, Mrs. Solustri is concerned it's not reaching the most at-risk and in-need students. She has been trying to find a way to procure funds for transportation to be able to help the many students who do not have transportation get home so they don't have to miss this great opportunity.

Leadership within her school and district

Mrs. Solustri not only serves as an eighth-grade language arts teacher, but is also the language arts department chair for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. As the department chair, Mrs. Solustri facilitated collaboration throughout the grade-levels to help ensure curriculum and standards were both vertically and horizontally aligned. In doing so, the students experience more consistency, not just in their current grade level, but as they move throughout their middle school careers. This has helped the students be more successful, not just in their language arts classes, but in their other core classes (science, math, and social students). Mrs. Solustri coordinated with the other department chairs to disseminate certain skills to their teachers to use in their classrooms. Now, the students can begin to make connections across the content for each class. They understand that what they are learning is not just in isolation and can be used both in and outside of the classroom.

Mrs. Solustri is involved with the Parent-Teacher-Student Association (PTSA) and School Improvement Council. She single-handedly created the yearbook for the students to commemorate a somewhat chaotic year. She also organized a school-wide spelling bee that had to be put on hold while the school went into lockdown. After the lockdown was lifted, she was able to reengage the students and the remaining volunteers to pull off a successful event. With everything that Mrs. Solustri does for her students, parents, and fellow teachers, she's also assisting the district serving by in an administrator capacity.

A record of excellent performance at the professional level

While South Carolina does not rely on data to show a “record of excellent performance,” Mrs. Solustri’s record, as shared above, is shown in the hearts and minds of her students, peers, and community.

Commitment to producing a nurturing atmosphere

Mrs. Solustri regularly re-evaluates what she can do to provide an atmosphere in her classroom that will be a place in which her students thrive. She knows that middle schoolers want to work together, not virtually, but they don't always have the skill set to do so. She provides space in her room that makes students feel at ease so the skills will come more naturally, where they are comfortable asking questions, and where they can grow together in learning and life.

Adherence to high moral and ethical standards

If you were to ask Mrs. Solustri what she does to adhere to high moral and ethical standards, her response would be: “I’m not sure that what I do is special. I think ALL teachers are held to and provide the same high moral and ethical standard. If they did not, we would have a much bigger problem.”

"It is Mrs. Solustri’s servant leader mindset and strong desire to provide a nurturing, safe, and well-rounded learning environment that show her high standards," said Granitz.