WORDS: Gabrielle Versmessen

A VISIONARY AND FEARLESS ADVOCATE…

How two long-standing ELC board members and child care providers remember Paul Sharff 

When the devasting news started to emerge on January 12th of this year that Paul Sharff, Chief Executive Officer at the Early Learning Coalition of Manatee County, had suddenly passed away, there was an outpouring of profound grief. It hit hard. It was very hard for two ladies who had known the man for many years. As a friend. As a CEO. And most of all, as an advocate for the profession they have dedicated themselves to. 

Jennifer Passmore, the owner of Woodland Early Childhood Center on SR70, is the Vice-Chair at the Coalition. Annette Larkin, the owner of Happy Cubs next to Blake Hospital, is the long-time Childcare Provider Representative. Both were in at the start in 2008 when Paul went from the man the Governor appointed to steady the ELC ship to the man who would transform the agency into what it is today. 

So when they heard the terrible news, there was utter shock and devastation. Gone was a friend. Gone was the man who fought every day to get them more money and resources to help the children in their care. But now, three months on from his sad passing, there is time to reflect on what they all achieved. Together. 

Jennifer Passmore recalled: “ELC had just gone through these very difficult challenges, and the Executive Director resigned, and Paul came on as the Chair. He was just so enthusiastic and very “Yeah! We’re going to change the world!” He had an immediate presence, and that was before he was the Executive Director. He was just a volunteer governor-elected appointee.  

“You just don’t expect that level of enthusiasm. It was like, “Wow! We’re really in for it. This is going to be a fun ride.” We were exhausted; we were demoralized; it was just a very difficult time that we were coming through. So to have Paul show up with all of his Paul-ness, enthusiasm, excitement, and can-do attitude was refreshing. That was Paul. He was relentless.” 

Like Jennifer, Annette saw the Sharff whirlwind sweep in. But she had already known what Paul would bring to the table. She smiled: “I met Paul when my children were in third grade. I was PTO president at Stewart Elementary, and he was my Vice President. So, he and I had been friends for a very long time, and we just stayed in touch. At that time, I sat on the ELC Board, and we had some issues and the Governor asked Paul to step in and temporarily chair the Board, and once we got all the issues settled, we asked him to stay and become our Executive Director.  

“It was really important for Paul to have a connection with the providers. Back then, there wasn’t any connection. If you didn’t use the ELC, you had no idea what took place there. And even if you did use it, there was no one to reach out to as a provider and say, “These are the issue we’re having; where do we go and have it resolved?” So, he had a provider rep position created on the Board. When he put me on, he said, “We want the providers to be heard, that we’re meeting their needs. So, your job is to let them know you’re there and to develop that relationship. 

“Within months of Paul moving in, things started to even back out. He started to realize what was happening, not just financially in the community, but the quality. He made some rapid changes, but he saw them. That’s what floors me when I think back. Nobody really had to tell him, just the fact that he could see the lack of quality care. He said, “There’s no base for what quality is, for what we should be teaching. Right now, we’re just giving care when really we should be educating them and giving them the tools they need to be successful for when they go into kindergarten.” 

Paul was all about getting into the facilities and sending his people out, saying, “Your VPK is now up and running, but your scores are terrible,” and the providers would say, “well, they’re terrible because we don’t know what we’re supposed to be teaching.” And at that point, he made the connection between the department of education and early childhood, saying, “What is it that these kids need to know and recognize by kindergarten?” 

He instantly asked: ‘How come we don’t have a college professor that teaches education on this Board? Why don’t we have a pediatrician?” He realized quickly that the Board needed to be made up of people that were aware of what children needed. And if they weren’t aware, then at least some people that had connections to help us get to where we needed to go.’ 

Jennifer believes that there wasn’t a minute of the day that Paul stopped thinking about how he could make Manatee County a better place. And he was never far from the front line when trouble came along. Just over two years ago, there was chaos at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Supplies needed to keep child care centers safe and functioning were running low. Paul’s biggest concern was that facilities would close and folks, especially essential front-line workers, would not be able to do their jobs as there would be no one open to look after their children. 

He went to amazing lengths to procure hand sanitizing stations, PPE, additional funding; COVID might have been rampaging through communities, causing havoc, but in Manatee County, the message when it came to child care was clear from the ELC. 

Jennifer explained: “During COVID, Paul worked really hard on connecting providers with essential workers. For example, we (Woodland) took in a bunch of kids where their parents were essential workers, who had to work, who could not stay home. Paul got on the phone and said, ‘Jennifer, what can you do? How many spots can you give me? We have all these essential workers who need a place for their kids, and I’ve got schools that are having to shut down. You’re open, don’t close! Whatever you do, don’t close.’ 

“And then he connected us with people that needed childcare so that they could keep working. From the beginning of the pandemic until the end of the school year, we had 150 elementary kids that were here. We had laptops set up for everybody. Our staff was helping the kids so that their parents could work, and Paul was the one who made those kinds of things happen. He had influence, he knew people, he connected people, he was a master at being able to do that, and working alongside the Superintendent made that happen. 

“He was a visionary leader. To cast that vision, he would go see an organization or a company, and he would just say these things, and they would be like, ‘Here’s our money! What can we do to help?’ – he was just that infectious.” 

Annette smiles as she fondly remembers the memories. While the pain is still fresh, she remains on the ELC board and is determined to help the agency continue its mission of enhancing the lives of every child in Manatee County. How does she recall the journey with Paul? 

“Well, Paul was always about the destination, not the journey, so to speak,” she laughed, “He didn’t care how he got there; he just wanted to get there. That was the burning passion in him – ‘I don’t care that we’re not supposed to be doing that. In order to get there, this is what we need to do. So, let’s just do that.’ But ultimately, he would do things in such a way that wouldn’t warrant a reprimand but rather praise on getting the goal accomplished. He has changed the quality of childcare in this community a thousandfold, easily.”

THE GREAT CONNECTOR… 

When the senior leadership at the School District of Manatee County faced new Early Learning challenges or initiatives that called for community collaboration, there was only one person they considered bringing it all together – Paul Sharff. 

Over many years, and working on countless projects, Superintendent Cynthia Saunders and Interim Executive Director of Curriculum and Professional Learning Dr. Robin Thompson saw the phenomenon that was Paul in full flow. Armed with all the contacts and ideas of how to raise funding, they witnessed a man on a mission to enhance the lives of local children in any which way he could. 

From literacy programs to retrofitting buses into mobile classrooms and sharing data on program outcomes, it would be hard to find a closer working relationship in the state than the one the School District has with its local Early Learning Coalition (ELC). And much of that was down to Paul’s vision, energy, and perseverance. 

As Superintendent Saunders explained: “One of the things that were discovered early on was that we struggle with grade-level reading by the third grade, and that’s a big focus for this community. Our demographics and population have changed tremendously in the last 10-15 years, and we knew that we were going to need to do some different things if we were going to improve the levels. 

“So, we formulated a grade-level reading campaign initiative. It was spearheaded by United Way, but we needed many partners beyond just the School District – and Paul Sharff at the Early Learning Coalition was one of those partners. 

“We partnered with the ELC so that they could provide part of the funding of our pre-K classrooms so that we’re able to provide a whole day experience for pre-K children. Whereas ten years ago, you may have had 10, 15 pre-K classrooms, we now have over 100 pre-K classrooms district-wide. If the ELC hadn’t partnered with the school board, we would not have been able to expand or offer the number of pre-K opportunities that we have to provide a whole day of school and easily transition the children into kindergarten. 

“Partnership with Paul was through a collaboration of working together, but I would also consider him a friend, a colleague. We were very much supportive of things he was trying to do to expand or improve the ELC. If there were initiatives that he felt very close-aligned with his agency’s philosophy, then he supported our agency. It really was mutual respect. I met him through our working relationship and, through that, evolved into a friendship. 

“Paul worked with us on our Soar-in-4 program. Whenever we would have community events where we were trying to get parents’ information and involved to sign up for pre-K, they would always be there with a table to provide information. The goal was to make sure that parents were aware of pre-K opportunities and what best served their family’s needs. We really did try to support one another’s organizations. 

“Paul was very positive. Always the glass half full kind of guy. It didn’t seem to matter if there were barriers out there for whatever initiatives we were working on. He would always find ways to overcome that through collaboration and working with different agencies. 

“It’s a huge loss for our community and our collective partnership with our organizations. I’m sure we’ll find a way to pick it up and keep it going because what was in place was bigger than any of us. But he was a driving force.” 

Sadly for Dr. Thompson – who also sits on the ELC board – she was one of the last people to spend time with Paul before his tragic passing. She recalled: “I met with him for lunch on Tuesday, January 11th, and he died sometime during that night. We talked about his boys what we needed to do for all the initiatives we have underway. He was completely fine; we were laughing and joking. Paul was really a wonderful colleague – I wish we had more people like him that were open to collaboration.” 

One of the many ideas Paul had been working on with Dr. Thompson was bringing a children’s museum to Manatee County. He had gone around Florida and even visited other states to see existing museum’s as his mind ticked over with what it would need to bring one to his hometown. 

“We had gone to the Glazer Children’s Museum in Tampa,” said Dr. Thompson, “There were three of us from the School District, and he met us up there, and we were given a tour, and we talked about how we could make it better and do better. I know that he had been to Lakeland and Naples Children Museums. He had lots of ideas. He was trying to generate some funding for it and what personnel we would need to oversee it, and how to select open-ended materials and resources. We were in the brainstorming stage. He had actually traveled to Boston Children’s Museum too.” 

Being involved with the ELC board, Dr. Thompson also witnessed how Paul grew the agency over 15 years to one of the largest non-profits in Manatee County. Each quarterly Board meeting would be an exciting Chief Executive Officer’s report when Paul would update the members on all the varied projects the agency and staff were working on. All with one target in mind – to make Manatee ELC the best in the state and to give every child in the programs a chance of success. 

She smiled: “He was a lot of fun to work with. Never a dull moment. He was definitely a mover and a shaker. He welcomed ideas outside of the box. If it would be for the benefit of the children, he was willing to entertain any ideas. 

“He always came to the table and included other participants. It was always a collaborative conversation. He was very good with pulling other people and agencies in and working together to build momentum for an initiative. It was good to have an outside perspective rather than that of an educator.  

“He came at it with a different lens. I think he was creating a legacy. He wanted to be known for something good, for the good work that he had accomplished. He wanted to leave the community better than when he found it. I think that we’re all committed to maintaining his collaboration. He worked so hard for it, and we want to honor his memory.” 

LEAVING A LASTING IMPRESSION… 

Enriching the lives of young children and seeing them succeed is a goal that both Mary Glass, President of the Manatee Education Foundation, and Paul Sharff shared. Neither a stranger to not-for-profit work, their dual interest drove them to a partnership dating back around 15 years. However, she knew Paul beforehand through her mother, Pat Glass, Manatee County’s first female County Commissioner serving 25 years. Through attending County events with her mother, Mary was first introduced to Paul and saw how involved he was in the local and state political scene. 

Without a formal background in education, Paul was still able to use the skills that he mastered over the years, as well as the many connections he had made to excel above and beyond in his work with Early Learning. Mary laughed: “With Paul, you couldn’t say “no.” He had such a big heart. You knew he was going for something good.” 

Still amazed at the encompassment of Paul’s work, Mary added: “The biggest thing was that he was so dedicated to Early Learning, literacy, and helping the VPK teachers. I found him to be extremely resourceful. He always found innovative ways to come up with solutions, like how he created the STEAM Machine (mobile educational vehicle). You could travel around with all these books and materials! He was very clever in that way. He may not have been involved in education before he was in that position at ELC, but he really grew into it. He really advanced the funding and the scope of work they did.” 

About three weeks prior to Paul’s passing, he and Mary had, what she calls, one of the best meetings they’ve ever had. They sat and talked about what they were both working on, the nitty-gritty of their partnership, his children’s museum ideas, and new training for social-emotional learning (SEL). Paul wanted to do something on a grand scale to include VPK and the district teachers, and Mary recalls making so many notes during that meeting that she ended up sending Paul an email later that day to make sure she captured it all. Paul’s response: “This is so great, Mary. I’m so glad you captured everything.” 

“Paul always thought about everything on a grand scale. Like the Prayer Breakfast started out at Renaissance on 9th, and it was packed, but still! That place was small. And the last Breakfast I went to was like 600 people at the Manatee Civic Center. 

“Another big area that brought Paul and I together was Dr. Robin Thompson (Manatee School District). She was on both of our Boards. That communication amongst us all has been critical to helping all of us work together. We have Soar-in-4 and Paul helped with the books and the STEAM Machine. It’s all that synergy of the right people in the district at the right organizations at the right time that make it happen. We all know how to work together. 

“He had a great relationship with the Superintendent, as do I. I think everybody working together to get connected really helped create that fusion of collaboration. It wasn’t a territorial environment. Sometimes all it took was just asking the right questions. Like he would ask, ‘what are you doing with Soar-in-4? How can I help?’ 

“He also spent a lot of time in Tallahassee working on behalf of children. Before he passed, he had just been before the County Commission to talk about bringing local child care licensing to Manatee County. So, he was always advocating at the State level, and he knew how to do that. Not many people know how to do something like that.” 

His passion for helping kids started long before it reached County and State-wide levels. Mary recalled: “One of the biggest things is that he was a good Father. That part of him was well known. Like when his kids were at Stewart Elementary, he was always doing the fundraising and was a big part of the PTO. And that was way before he was with the ELC. 

“He had a good team around him too. And that’s critical for anyone, but especially with the size of his organization. I know he had a lot of good people that I had worked with and that he would guide us too if we had any questions. Plus, he really had quite the bond with Darrell King. When he found Darrell and they created NextGen, I thought that was genius. Especially with my marketing background, I really thought what they did was genius. Darrell had the experience. No one had ever really done anything like that where these magazines were going in the backpacks of all these kids, so they’re communicating with the parents, the teachers, and the community. You can see them in all the community offices! There are a lot of great stories about people.” 

When asked if she can recall a stand-out memory with Paul, Mary said: “I would just say everything was so ongoing that it wasn’t just one thing; it was everything. It was the scholarships, talking about leadership, VPK grants, always being supportive of events I was doing; those things were moving to me. It was really magical. I always could count on him.” 

Tearfully, she ended her recount by saying: “I have great sadness about him being gone and knowing that gap is always going to be there.”