Experienced Manatee County educator to lead Freedom Elementary School

When Greg Sander was attending school, he and his siblings were on the reduced lunch benefit. 

“We never had the best of things, but we had all the things that we needed,” Sander said. “We had opportunities, but not limitless opportunities. (My) getting into education was to help create opportunities for others.” 

Sander, who has served in a variety of roles in education in Manatee County, is the new principal for Freedom Elementary School. He attended Stewart Elementary School, Martha B. King Middle School and Manatee High School.

He said his mother, Barbara Sander, was one of his inspirations when it came to going into the education field. She worked as a classroom aide at Stewart Elementary and Sea Breeze Elementary. She returned to school to get her teaching degree and eventually retired at Sea Breeze as a teacher.

Sander enjoyed hearing about all of his mother’s stories and about the connections she made as a teacher. 

Courtesy image

“She was very big into teaching American history,” Sander said. “She loved it so much and whenever there were national elections, she would get the kids involved in the voting process. It was about the love of helping kids learn to be better citizens.” 

When he learned he would be transferring from Prine Elementary School, where he has been principal for five years, to Freedom, the news first came as a surprise. He quickly started to learn more about the school, and with that his excitement increased.

Sander said every school has different cultures, expectations and history. He is excited to learn all Freedom.

“My biggest hope is to come in and be a part of the Freedom community, help make it better, and enhance what is already going on here,” Sander said. “It is not to come in and change things, because they have a deep foundation — traditions, academically and in the community — and it's my goal to preserve those and help connect with this generation of students.”

Sander has worked in a variety of different roles in education, which include teaching second through fifth grade and being a technology specialist. He described himself as a servant leader ready to provide whatever is needed in any given situation. 

“There is no job too big or too small for me,” Sander said. “I've wiped down tables, I've cleaned up trash. I’ve answered the phone calls. When I ask staff for help, I expect them to say 'yes.' If somebody needs help, help is going to be provided.” 

Sander said every student should have some sort of positive connection with a staff member on campus. That could be a teacher, an aide, a custodial staff member, a food service member, or even himself.

“I’ve found people who get into education genuinely want to make a positive difference with kids,” Sander said. “They want to connect. They want to make the world a little bit better at the end of the day than it was at the beginning of the day.” 

Photo by Madison Bierl

Brittani Barnes, the assistant principal at Freedom Elementary, said the staff has an amazing sense of pride, responsibility, and work ethic. She hopes Sander continues to help them build on that foundation. 

“He's wanting to have conversations and that's good to show he's a receptive leader,” Barnes said. “He wants to take the information and process it to help make the best decisions moving forward.”

Sander’s wife, Michelle, is a first grade teacher at Myakka Elementary School. She often gives a teacher's perspective when he has new ideas.

"She has been a very strong grounding force for me,” Sander said. 

Sander has a master’s in educational leadership and he said he was often told leaders are not born, they are created. 

“My hope is during my time here, it's just about Freedom Elementary and not Greg Sander,” Sander said. “It's not about me, it's not about the leader, it's about the path that these kids are on. Our goal isn't to make great third graders, it's to make kids that when they graduate fifth grade, they have more opportunities than we did as kids.”