Southeast
How teacher autonomy helps students and staff succeed at this top Florida school
When teachers at A.D. Henderson School, one of the top-performing schools in Florida, are asked how they succeed, one answer is universal: They have autonomy.
Nationally, most teachers report feeling stressed and overwhelmed at work, according to a Pew Research Center survey of teachers last fall. Waning job satisfaction over the last two decades has accompanied a decline in teachers’ sense of autonomy in the classroom, according to a recent study out of Brown University and the University of Albany.
But at this South Florida school, administrators allow their staff high levels of classroom creativity — and it works.
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A public school of 636 kindergartners to eighth graders on the campus of Florida Atlantic University, Henderson scored in the top 1% to 3% in every subject and grade level on the state’s latest standardized tests, with the exception of sixth grade math, where students scored in the top 7%. In almost every subject, 60% or more of Henderson students score significantly above the state average.
“There is a lot of our own individual input allowed in doing the activities that we want to do in the classroom,” said Vanessa Stevenson, a middle school science teacher finishing her third year at the school. She plans to start an equine medicine class next fall even though the school has no stables — she believes she will find a way.
“It’s a bit of trial and error because there’s nothing being handed to you saying, ‘Do it this way.’ You just have to figure it out,” she said.
Math interventionist Jessica Foreman, center, works with a small group of first graders at A.D. Henderson School in Boca Raton, Florida, on April 16, 2024. Teachers at the K-8 public school, one of the top-performing schools in Florida, say their autonomy helps them succeed. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Joel Herbst, superintendent of Henderson and its sibling FAU High School, calls the faculty his “secret sauce” and argues the school’s success can be duplicated anywhere — if administrators cede some control.
When that happens, he said, teachers create hands-on programs that help students “not only show their understanding, but gain more depth.”
“Give (teachers) the freedom to do what they do best, which is to impart knowledge, to teach beyond the textbook,” he said.
Portland State University education professor Madhu Narayanan, who studies teacher autonomy, said independence has a high correlation to faculty morale and success. But autonomy must be paired with administrative support.
“It can’t be, ‘Here is the classroom, here is the textbook, we’ll see you in six months.’ Those teachers have tremendous autonomy, but feel lost,” he said.
‘THAT LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA’
Henderson emphasizes science, technology and math, using arts and humanities to help with those lessons. About 2,700 families enter a lottery each year for the 60 spots in Henderson’s kindergarten class and openings in other grades. There is no screening — some children entering Henderson are prodigies, most are average learners and some have learning disabilities like dyslexia.
The only tweaking is to comply with a Florida law requiring the student population at university-run “laboratory” schools match state demographics for race, gender and income. Because families apply to attend, parental involvement is high — an advantage Herbst and his staff concede.
Selected kindergartners are tested months before arrival so any needs can be immediately addressed.
“Some of them come in reading and some know five letters — and it is not just reading, but all subjects,” said Lauren Robinson, the elementary program’s vice principal. “We are going to provide every opportunity to close those gaps before those gaps grow and grow, instead of waiting until a certain grade level and saying, ‘Now we’ll try to close them.’ It’s Day One.”
In Jenny O’Sullivan’s art and technology classroom, kindergartners learn computer coding basics by steering a robot through a maze. Fourth and fifth graders make videos celebrating Earth Day. Students learn design by building cardboard arcade games like Skee-Ball for their classmates. Legos teach engineering.
While her new classroom has the latest technology, she insists such classes can be taught anywhere if the teacher is allowed creativity.
“My grandmother is from Louisiana and there’s a (Cajun) saying: ‘Lagniappe,’ that little something extra,” O’Sullivan said. “I get to be the lagniappe in (the student’s) education. Could you do without it? Yes. But would you want to? No.”
Working in small groups while dressed in white lab coats and goggles, the sixth graders in Amy Miramontes’ Medical Detectives class solve a mystery daily. They have examined strands of rabbit muscle under a microscope, using safe chemicals to determine what neurological disease each animal had. They have tested fake neurotoxins to determine which ailments afflicted their imaginary patients.
Miramontes hopes the class not only piques the students’ interest in medicine, but implants knowledge needed in two years when they take the state’s eighth-grade science test.
“They’re always learning by having their hands on something,” Miramontes said. “If they mess up, it’s OK — we start over. But then we learn a great life lesson that we have to be very diligent.”
Marisha Valbrun, 12, took Medical Detectives because she might want to be a doctor. She’s learned that while science is challenging, by seeking assistance she can overcome obstacles.
“I feel like if I just ask any person in this room for help, they can give you that right answer,” she said.
USING ART TO TEACH SCIENCE
Even at a school where teachers exude enthusiasm, elementary art teacher Lindsey Wuest stands out — she can’t stand still while describing how her lessons center on science.
On this afternoon in her Science as Art class, Wuest and a visiting artist are showing third graders how to make clay bobblehead dolls of endangered species — while also teaching the chemistry of why glazes change color in the kiln.
“Hopefully those students who love art can also develop a love of science,” she said. “Project-based learning sticks with the kids for longer.”
Third grader Maximus Mallow said that by working on his leopard bobblehead, he learned how the animal’s camouflage works.
“We have fun while we create stuff about science,” the 9-year-old said.
Henderson’s success leads to grants — and nowhere shows that better than the middle school’s drone program, which recently won a national competition in San Diego.
Henderson’s drone teams have a room to practice flying the 3-inch-by-3-inch, four-rotor devices through an obstacle course, plus flight simulators donated by the local power company.
The drone program is a chance to compete while using the physics and aeronautics learned in the classroom, teacher James Nance said. While expensive equipment is a benefit, Nance said, drone classes can be taught on a shoestring. At a previous school, he made a flying course out of PVC pipe and balloons.
Eighth grader Anik Sahai pulls out his cell phone in Stevenson’s science classroom, an act at Henderson that usually means a trip to the office. But he is demonstrating an app he created that uses the camera to diagnose diabetic retinopathy, an eye disease that is a leading cause of blindness worldwide. It took first place in the state’s middle school science fair and is being considered for commercial use.
The 14-year-old credits his success to his years at Henderson, beginning in the preschool program.
“The teachers here, they’re amazing,” he said. “They’ve been trained on how to get us to the next level.”
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Southeast
Georgia teen charged with murdering Uber driver in suburban carjacking, leaving him to die
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A 15-year-old boy has been charged as an adult with murder after an Uber driver was found shot to death early New Year’s Day after a carjacking in a suburban Atlanta community, authorities said.
The victim was identified as Cesar Tejada, 58, of Grayson, Georgia, who was working as an Uber driver at the time of the shooting, according to a release from the Lawrenceville Police Department. Authorities said that Tejada was a father of two.
Police responded around 5:20 a.m. Jan. 1 to a report of a person lying in the roadway in the suburban community of Lawrenceville, which is approximately 30 miles northeast of Atlanta. Officers found Tejada suffering from a gunshot wound, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators determined that Tejada had picked up the suspect around 4:13 a.m. and transported him to Groveland Parkway. Police said the suspect exited the back seat, shot Tejada and left him in the road before fleeing the scene.
An Uber driver was found shot to death in the roadway of the nearby 600 block of Groveland Parkway in the Meadow Grove subdivision Jan. 1, 2026. (WAGA-TV)
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ALLEGEDLY SEVERS MAN’S THUMB WITH MACHETE AT GEORGIA CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY PARTY
Using FLOCK camera technology and working in partnership with Uber, detectives tracked Tejada’s vehicle back to the area where the trip originated. Officers later detained the suspect, identified as 15-year-old Christian Simmons, after observing him walking in the roadway near his residence, police said.
Simmons has been charged as an adult with murder. Police initially withheld his identity due to his age.
Christian Simmons, 15, was charged with murder as an adult after Uber driver Cesar Tejada, 58, was found shot to death in Lawrenceville, Georgia, on New Year’s Day. (Lawrenceville Police Department/Facebook)
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In a statement to Fox News Digital, an Uber spokesperson said the company is saddened by Tejada’s death.
“We’re saddened by this devastating loss, and our condolences go out to the driver’s family during this incredibly difficult time,” the spokesperson said. “We’ve been in contact with the Lawrenceville Police Department to help support their investigation.”
Uber confirmed the rider account associated with the incident has been permanently banned. The company said it employs former law enforcement professionals to assist with investigations and offers in-app safety features such as an emergency assistance button, GPS trip tracking and rider verification.
The Lawrenceville Police Department discovered a deceased Uber driver in the roadway of the nearby 600 block of Groveland Parkway in the Meadow Grove subdivision Jan. 1, 2026. (WAGA-TV)
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Police described Tejada as a husband and father of two and extended condolences to his family. The investigation remains ongoing, and anyone with information is urged to contact the Lawrenceville Police Department.
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In 2025, idyllic small towns across America were interrupted by acts of violence from Mississippi to Montana, Arkansas to Washington state.
The murders struck during homecoming weekends, inside neighborhood bars, at campgrounds and along hiking trails.
Together, the cases exposed vulnerabilities in small-town America: unresolved personal disputes, untreated mental health crises and domestic violence.
Clinton and Cristen Brink were murdered at Devil’s Den State Park on Saturday, July 26, 2025. (GoFundMe)
FRIENDS UNVEIL DEVIL’S DEN COUPLE’S HAUNTING FINAL MESSAGE BEFORE DEADLY PARK AMBUSH
Devil’s Den, Arkansas:
In northwest Arkansas, a visit to a state park ended in a double homicide.
Clinton Brink, 43, and Cristen Brink, 41, the parents of three children, were stabbed to death while hiking at Devil’s Den State Park on July 26.
The couple had recently moved to Arkansas to be closer to family and begin a new chapter. Friends described them as gentle, active and devoted parents.
“They loved to take the girls and go hiking,” said Mary Hinebauch, a friend from their former church in Montana. “That wasn’t an unnatural place for them to be.”
The Arkansas State Police arrested Andrew James McGann, 28, charging him with murdering the couple. Investigators said the killings appeared unprovoked. The arrest came a day after police released “a composite sketch of a man” they were “seeking to identify for questioning in connection with the double homicide.”
“This was a very safe place to be,” Hinebauch said. “It’s pure evil.”
To read more about this case, click here.
The FBI’s Jackson Field Office released this “seeking information” poster featuring four suspects wanted in connection with the Oct. 11, 2025, mass shooting in Leland, Mississippi, that left six people dead and 20 injured. (FBI)
Leland, Mississippi:
On Oct. 11, 2025, just after midnight in Leland, Mississippi, a small city in Washington County where the population hovers around 3,700, the excitement of homecoming weekend was shattered when a shooting broke out following a football game.
At least six people were killed and at least 19 others wounded.
The FBI’s Jackson Field Office announced that four people were arrested in connection with the shooting.
Three men, identified as Teviyon Powell, 29; William Bryant, 29; and Morgan Lattimore, 25, were charged with capital murder. A fourth suspect, Latoya Powell, 44, was charged with attempted murder.
MUGSHOT OF RURAL MONTANA BAR MASSACRE SUSPECT RELEASED AFTER WEEK-LONG MANHUNT
Investigators said they believe the violence stemmed from a personal dispute, though no final motive has been confirmed.
“This is not who we are as a community,” Leland Mayor John Lee said. “Our hearts are broken for these families.”
To read more about this case, click here.
Main Street in Anaconda, Montana, leads to the Deer Lodge County Courthouse with mountains in the background on Aug. 8, 2025. (Peter D’Abrosca/Fox News Digital)
Anaconda, Montana:
In Anaconda, Montana, a quiet bar in a former mining town with about 9,000 people was interrupted when a man opened fire on Aug. 1, 2025.
Authorities said that Michael Paul Brown, 45, an Army veteran and longtime local resident, entered The Owl Bar around 10:30 a.m. and opened fire. Authorities said Brown lived next door to the bar and was known to the patrons inside.
Four people were killed: Daniel Edwin Baillie, 59; Nancy Lauretta Kelley, 64; David Allen Leach, 70; and Tony Wayne Palm, 74. Kelley was working as the bartender; the others were regular customers.
Brown fled, sparking a massive weeklong manhunt involving more than 130 local, state and federal law enforcement officers. The FBI, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service and Montana National Guard all assisted, deploying helicopters, air patrols and ground teams across rugged terrain.
The Department of Criminal Investigations in Montana released a photo of Michael Brown fleeing the scene after allegedly shooting and killing four people at a bar on Aug. 1, 2025. (Department of Criminal Investigations)
MONTANA MANHUNT EXPANDS FOR EX-SOLDIER SUSPECT SEEN WITH STOLEN SURVIVAL GEAR AFTER BAR MASSACRE
Residents told Fox News Digital that fear settled over the town as the search dragged on.
“The town is just scared,” one bartender said. “Everybody’s on edge.”
Brown was captured Aug. 8 near a barn about five and a half miles from the bar. Authorities said he was armed.
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen called the killings “cold-blooded.”
To read more about this case, click here.
Travis Decker was suspected of murdering his three daughters before disappearing into the Washington wilderness. (Chelan County Sheriff’s Office)
SPECIAL FORCES VET EXPOSES TACTICS OF MONTANA, WASHINGTON STATE SURVIVALISTS: ‘CAN’T STAY HIDDEN FOREVER’
Wenatchee, Washington:
In May 2025, a manhunt was launched for the fugitive father of three accused of murdering his three daughters before disappearing into the wilderness.
The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said Travis Decker, a military veteran and wilderness survivalist, failed to return his three daughters from a court-mandated custody visit in late May 2025. Days later, the bodies of Paityn Decker, 9; Evelyn Decker, 8; and Olivia Decker, 5, were found at a Chelan County campground.
According to police, the girls had been bound with zip ties and suffocated.
This undated photo provided by Whitney Decker shows Paityn, Olivia and Evelyn Decker. (Whitney Decker via AP)
A manhunt followed, spanning rugged mountain terrain and involving multiple law enforcement agencies. In September, human remains were discovered on Grindstone Mountain, less than a mile from where the girls’ bodies had been found. DNA testing later confirmed the remains belonged to Decker.
“This will bring a close to our case,” Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison said after the DNA results were confirmed. “We wanted to show honor to them and let them know we haven’t forgotten.”
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Court records showed Decker’s ex-wife had previously petitioned to modify the parenting plan, citing his worsening mental health and unstable living conditions.
To read more about this case, click here.
Fox News Digital’s Peter D’Abrosca, Julia Bonavita, Michael Dorgan and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
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Southeast
MAHA backers refuse to stop pushing for healthier food as Obama-appointed judge deals blow
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The “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement hit the ground running in 2025 — pushing a wave of health policy changes nationwide, especially around food and nutrition. Now supporters vow that one court setback will not slow them down.
A West Virginia judge paused enforcement of parts of H.B. 2354 — the state law restricting certain food dyes and preservatives — during the holiday week, on Dec. 23. That triggered swift backlash from state leaders and advocates who say the fight is only intensifying.
In her ruling, Judge Irene Berger — appointed by former President Obama — said the law is “unconstitutionally vague because it fails to provide sufficient notice and invites arbitrary enforcement.”
COMMON CHEMICALS, FROM FOOD ADDITIVES TO PESTICIDES, MAY BE WRECKING YOUR GUT HEALTH, STUDY SAYS
She added that the statute does not spell out how the West Virginia Department of Health should determine whether color additives beyond those specifically listed are “poisonous and injurious.”
Berger was nominated in 2009 by Obama to serve as a U.S. district judge for the Southern District of West Virginia.
A West Virginia judge appointed by former President Barack Obama has paused a Make America Healthy Again food dye ban, calling the law “unconstitutionally vague” in a major setback for the health movement. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
West Virginia’s House Bill 2354, signed by Gov. Patrick Morrisey, aims to phase out specific artificial dyes in stages.
Beginning on Aug. 1 of this year, seven dyes were banned from school lunches — and starting Jan. 1, 2028, the same dyes, along with two preservatives, would be banned from food products sold statewide.
The judge’s new ruling does not apply to school nutrition programs — so the school-lunch portion remains on track even as the broader legal fight plays out.
PEPSICO TO REMOVE ARTIFICIAL INGREDIENTS FROM POPULAR FOOD ITEMS BY END OF 2025
Red Dye No. 3, Red Dye No. 40, Yellow Dye No. 5, Yellow Dye No. 6, Blue Dye No. 1, Blue Dye No. 2 and Green Dye No. 3 were all banned from school lunches starting in August.
The same food dyes, plus the preservatives butylated hydroxyanisole and propylparaben, will be banned from all food items sold in the state beginning in 2028.
The food dye ban in West Virginia is “unconstitutionally vague because it fails to provide sufficient notice and invites arbitrary enforcement,” said a judge. Others disagree vehemently. (iStock)
Gov. Morrisey, a Republican, issued a statement blasting the decision as a detour, calling it “premature and incorrectly decided.”
“West Virginia will continue to defend its authority to protect the health and well-being of our citizens, especially children,” his statement said. “We are reviewing our legal options and will continue to press forward with our efforts to get harmful crap out of our food supply.”
Morrisey told Fox News Digital in an interview that “West Virginia has set the standard for the nation when it comes to protecting children from harmful ingredients in food.”
“Since we acted, other states have stepped forward and manufacturers have already begun changing formulas, because they see where this is headed,” Morrisey said.
“We are reviewing our legal options and will continue to press forward with our efforts to get harmful crap out of our food supply,” said Gov. Patrick Morrisey in reaction to the judge’s decision. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“Children who consume these dyes across many foods, day after day, during critical stages of development, face a higher risk of chronic disease,” he added. “West Virginia acted because protecting children’s health should never be optional, and we remain proud to lead this effort.”
Red dye gives food a bright cherry red color. It has been linked to behavioral issues in children, while non-human studies have linked the dye to cancer, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of Health and Human Services, has made removing artificial dyes from America’s food supply one of his priorities during his work as a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet.
“Artificial food dyes offer zero nutritional value.”
During his first trip as America’s lead healthcare official in March, Kennedy spoke in Martinsburg alongside Gov. Morrisey, who said his state’s ban plan and the Democrat scion’s choice to visit the area first showed that the “MAHA” movement “begins right here in West Virginia.”
TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ
The debate over artificial dyes has become a flashpoint for MAHA-aligned supporters. Many see the legal challenge as proof the movement is beginning to hit real resistance. They see it as a reason to push back hard, rather than retreat.
Liana Werner-Gray, nutritionist and author of “The Earth Diet,” told Fox News Digital that “artificial food dyes offer zero nutritional value.”
The native Australian said the European Union (EU) requires warning labels on products containing several common artificial dyes “because of links to activity and attention effects in children.”
“I know who is going to win — because there is nothing more powerful than moms protecting their children,” said a MAHA advocate. (Fox News Digital)
Werner-Gray added that “from a preventative health standpoint, removing unnecessary additives is a straightforward way to reduce avoidable risk.”
She noted that injunction or not, one bright spot is that the conversation has shifted.
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“Parents are asking why ingredients linked to behavioral and neurological concerns are still common in children’s food, and that question isn’t going away,” she said. “They want it to go away, they want us to go away with this, but we won’t.”
Vani Hari, better known as the “Food Babe,” told Fox News Digital that “the judicial system is going to see the might of the MAHA movement.”
“There is nothing more powerful than moms protecting their children.”
“I know who is going to win — because there is nothing more powerful than moms protecting their children,” said Hari, who is based in North Carolina.
The case was brought by the International Association of Color Manufacturers, an organization based in Washington, D.C., that alleged the West Virginia bill causes economic harm to its member companies.
“The statute arbitrarily and irrationally targets color additives no U.S. agency — state or federal — nor any court has ever found to be unsafe,” IACM said in a statement announcing its suit, adding that the ban also lacks “scientific evidence.”
West Virginia’s governor, for his part, said the decision by the Obama-appointed judge is legally flawed. Morrisey said he believes the decision will be reversed.
California, Virginia, Utah and Arizona have sought to enact similar bans focused largely on children’s school lunches.
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Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel and Charles Creitz contributed reporting.
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