While her father planned lessons, Elizabeth Russillo spent Saturday mornings playing in the hallways and drawing on the chalkboard. Russillo learned passion and innovation at a young age. Her educational growth has continued every day throughout her career. Rusillo’s approach is rooted in the belief that she needs to continually improve her teaching practices, one lesson at a time. Those long-past Saturday mornings still inspire her to be better tomorrow than she was today. During her time at Smithfield High School, Rusillo has taken on numerous leadership roles including mentor, department chair, student council advisor, tennis coach, and engaging educator. She has led curriculum development and designed assessments to ensure that students of all abilities can excel. She has led her department to full implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and has been an advocate for engineering integration. Above all, Rusillo is a personalized learning expert who learns from her students every day and regularly modifies instruction according to their needs. Rusillo’s true passion lies in professional development and instructional coaching. The Smithfield district participated in over 100 hours of professional development organized and facilitated by Rusillo, during which both parties grew professionally. As an instructional coach with the Highlander Institute, Rusillo has mentored teachers in multiple districts around Rhode Island. The symbiotic relationship between coach and mentee was the inspiration for a blog post titled “Why Veteran Teachers Need Instructional Coaches” which was published by RIDE and TeachBoost.