INSTRUCTOR SPOTLIGHT: FEBRUARY 2022
INSTRUCTOR SPOTLIGHT: FEBRUARY 2022
February 2022 Instructor Excellence Award: Beverlee Frazier
Beverlee Frazier
Microsoft Certified
Trainer (MCT)
New Horizons Tampa Bay
Beverlee Frazier is a seasoned instructor at New Horizons of Tampa Bay with 20+ years of experience. Her skills cover a wide array of topics including Desktop Applications, ITIL, DevOps, Scrum Master, and she is also a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT). She takes great pride in being an outstanding instructor with a keen focus on preparing adult learners for success in the corporate world through computer training.
Before becoming an instructor, Beverlee graduated college with a management degree. After graduation, she took a job in a sales role selling computers for nearly four years. Beverlee was a natural on the showroom floor and making the big sale was important to her. But what she enjoyed most about her sales role was the feeling she got when she was able to help people understand how computers work. She loved the social interaction those experiences brought her and really enjoyed the fact that she was helping people learn - making a difference in their lives. Moving on from that role, Beverlee interviewed at a training facility for a sales role, but was told that she seemed like a perfect fit for the teaching job they had open. “I’m so glad that I was given that advice because I took it, and the rest is history.” Accepting that role as an instructor meant taking her newfound passion for educating to new heights, and she couldn’t have been more excited to begin that journey.
Beverlee owes her continued love of teaching to her students, who she says inspire her every day. “I still get excited. Every morning when we get started, I just enjoy it and try to take the technical stuff and put it in plain English. I really try to help my students connect with the topics they are learning about on a deeper level.” Beverlee takes pride in the fact that she helps people move their careers forward. “Sometimes I’m teaching individuals that are currently unemployed, sometimes I’m teaching veterans, and then you've got the professionals. In each of those cases, I'm helping people better themselves and enhance their earning potential. I find it inspiring and I don't hope to ever do anything else.”
Beverlee is an accomplished instructor but has also faced a common obstacle most instructors have dealt with these past few years - moving from in-person to teaching virtually. “When the COVID-19 pandemic began, I did not have any comfort level in using virtual classroom technology. I'm such a people person and I feed off my students’ expressions and energy.” Committed to making the adjustment, Beverlee focused on the positive aspects of virtual training including the convenience of instructing from home and being able to take breaks more frequently - a key to a successful virtual training event. “Now that I’ve mastered it, if I had to choose between teaching in-person or virtual, I would choose virtual because of the flexibility it provides for my students and for me.”
As for her plans for the future, Beverlee has decided to expand her instructional skills well beyond her current portfolio. “I spent a year putting a lot of study and effort into Scrum and DevOps. All of the work I put in to really learn about those two topics is just now starting to pay off in the classroom.” In addition to that, 2022 is going to be about solidifying her teaching expertise. “All of my classes are prepped and I am ready to teach, but I plan to go back and strengthen my presentations. Additionally, I am going to focus on Business Intelligence training topics because I truly find them fascinating.”
February 2022 Instructor Excellence Award:
Jarrett Heintz
Jarrett Heintz is an expert Dark Web Instructor, Dark Web Council Member, and Bootcamp Instructor working with The Training Camp. He enjoys helping others dive deep into topics in the world of IT, especially challenging topics like the Dark Web. In addition to helping his students develop their comfort and confidence, his passion is growing his own knowledge and value. “I love working with people and talking about the stuff I love, growing my own skills, and being able to make a living in the process.”
After years of having an interest in computers, Jarrett decided to take a 2-week bootcamp course and discovered that not only did he really like the format for certification and education, but he was also really interested in having a greater role in it. “I chatted with the instructor who was teaching the bootcamp course I was taking, and he mentioned that they're always looking for new instructors. Within a few months, I was transforming my interest in IT into an educational role.” According to Jarrett, teaching is somewhat of a family business, and coming from a long line of educators, he had always hoped he would end up teaching in some capacity.
Jarrett was thriving in his role as an instructor when three years ago, he became a member of The Dark Web Council.
Jarrett Heintz
Dark Web Council
Member and
Bootcamp Instructor
Training Camp
The Dark Web Council consists of Cybersecurity professionals looking to educate other Cybersecurity professionals on the positive uses of the Dark Web. “The group was trying to find their voice and they had a great premise with great ideas, but they were missing the last piece of the puzzle - a teachable class. They invited me in to add that missing piece. Over the next year and a half, we took all their great ideas, the collective experience of the group, and created powerful classes.” The Dark Web Council aims to show defenders how to leverage the Dark Web into a vital facet of a risk management strategy. “It is designed to help shine a light on those dark corners of the web. It is important for professionals and organizations to understand the Dark Web so that they can use it to their advantage," says Jarrett. When it comes to his involvement in Dark Web training, the more he puts into it, the more he wants to learn. His (and the Dark Web Council team’s) goal is to make people aware of the inherent dangers facing their data.
When asked about the future, Jarrett says he is focused on continuing his work with the Dark Web Council and advancing the training. Jarrett explains that the field of IT is ever-changing and that always keeps him busy. “The beauty of IT, and with information security specifically, is that we're always a couple of days away from something new and different. It's a moving target. Being able to stay involved with information security topics, development of training material, and training delivery is exciting and fun. It's so volatile and requires constantly being plugged into the latest and greatest. That volatility is what keeps me interested. I'm in awe of technology. I'm still amazed by what we can do with technology. I have an ongoing childlike wonder with it all."
Jarrett is a Master Dark Web Instructor and one of a few in the world that teaches CDWA which prepares students for CDWA Certification.