White House Author

Linda Gancitano is a physical education teacher at Driftwood Middle School (DMS) Academy of Health and Wellness, a 2013 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School in Broward County, Florida. Linda has been an educator for 25 years and has received recognition as a Florida Green School Teacher of the Year, DMS Teacher of the Year, and Broward County Physical Education Teacher of the Year. Linda started the DMS Green Team in 2008 and subsequently created a school-based challenge to reduced energy use called "How Low Can You Go?" that gets students engaged as energy auditors for classrooms (this program has been expanded districtwide through a partnership with the Miami Heat NBA team). Prior to working as an educator, Linda was a collegiate soccer player at the University of Central Florida and a member of the first-ever U.S. women’s national soccer team; she was also the first girl to play on the high-school boys’ soccer team at Coral Springs High School.