Page 13 - Florida Sentinel 1-19-18

FLORIDA SENTINEL
FRIDAY, JANUARY 19, 2018
B
Annual ‘Excellence In Education’ Awards Ceremony Held
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
On Tuesday evening, the Annual Excellence in Educa- tion Awards Ceremony took place. The event was held at the David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts, 1010 N. W. C. Macinnes Place.
The awards are presented each year through a partner- ship between the Hillsborough Education Foundation and the Hillsborough County Public School District. The winners were chosen in the categories of “Teacher of the Year,” “Ida S. Baker Diversity Educator of the Year,” and “Instructional Support Employee of the Year.”
This year’s winner for “Teacher of the Year,” is Ms. Bon-
nie Bres-
she joined the Hillsborough County School District 7 years ago.
Mrs. Campbell started an on-site Community Cloth- ing Closet and has established community partners to pro- vide students with school sup- plies and holiday food assistance. She is also the co- creator and facilitator of the pilot program known as the Social Work Attendance Team (S.W.A.T.), a Professional Learning Community geared toward increasing district- wide graduation rate.
Mrs. Miriam Velez- Hernandez was selected as the recipient
of the “In-
versity and the University of Massachusetts. For the past three years, she has led a serv- ice learning project that re- quires maintaining student created libraries in local com- munity barbershops.
A wife and mother of three children, Mrs. Lisabeth Leist gradu-
ated from the
University of
Cincinnati
with an A. S.
in Chemical
Engineering
Technology,
andB.S.in Mathematics. LISABETH She joined the LEIST Hillsborough
County Public School District five years ago.
Activities associated with her role as an educator include helping other teachers incor- porate technology, promoting a growth mindset, and engag- ing the broader professional learning community via partic- ipating in and leading Twitter chats.
A Florida native, Ms. Nicole Meyerson attended the University
of South
Florida, where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Ele- mentary Edu- cation.
She has
taught in MEYERSON Hillsborough
County for the
past 11 years. Last year, Ms. Meyerson was named one of the top 500 highly qualified teachers in the state of Florida by the Department of Educa- tion. She is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree at the Uni- versity of Tampa in Educa- tional Leadership.
A Tampa native, Ms. Alexa Trafficante graduated from the Uni-
versity of Cen-
tral Florida,
where she
earned a
Bachelor of
Science in Ele-
mentary Edu-
cation. ALEXA
A five-year TRAFFICANTE employee of
Hillsborough
County, Ms. Trafficante has served as a team-leader, Social Studies Lead, Mentorship Pro- gram Chair, Sunshine Com- mittee Chair, and many more. She has also been recognized as a High Impact Teacher by the State of Florida. Her grad- uation from the University of South Florida as a Master’s in
Educational Leadership candi- date is slated for May 2018.
“Ida S. Baker Diversity Educator of the Year” Candidates
Jonathan Collier is a Riverview High School gradu- ate who is
currently as-
signed to Spoto High School
He earned
a B.A. Degree
in Interna-
tional Studies
at the Univer-
sity of South
Florida. After
teaching middle school in South Korea for three years, he returned to Hillsborough County as a substitute teacher, paraprofessional, and has been an exceptional student educator since 2014.
Collier is the founder of Spoto’s Special Olympics pro- gram, which provides school involvement for student ath- letes and enables students and teachers to serve as leaders in the community.
Mrs. Alicia Fojaco has taught in the Hillsborough County
School Dis-
“Instructional Support Employee of the Year” Finalists
A Tampa native, Ms. Cindy Nuñez graduated from Hillsbor-
ough High
School. She continued her education at the University of South Florida,
where she CINDY NUNEZ earned an
A.A. and a
C.D.A. degree. She has worked for Hillsborough County Schools for 32 years.
For the past 25 years, she has been a kindergarten assis- tant at Claywell Elementary. The mother of two sons, Ms. Nunez has been nominated three times and is very hon- ored to be a finalist for this award twice.
nyan, an
instructor at
Lewis Ele-
mentary
School. She
earned her
BA in Edu-
cation at
Florida At-
lantic Uni-
versity and
completed her Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction at Tennessee Technological University.
Ms. Bresnyan has served the last 20 years of her 31-year career educating the students of Hillsborough County.
In addition to her class- room responsibilities, Ms. Bresnyan trains for the Dis- trict, works with USF in men- toring new teachers, and teaches Sunday School. She holds herself to this standard: “to whom much is given, much is expected.”
The h0nor of being chosen as “Ida S.
Baker Di- versity Ed- ucator of the Year” Award recip- ient was given to Ms. Christine T. Camp- bell during
structional Support Employee of the Year” Award.
Mrs. Velez-Her- nandez graduated from high school in 1971. She has
MIRIAM VELEZ- HERNANDEZ ‘Instructional Support Employee of the Year’
Leonard
worked for
Hillsborough
County Pub-
lic Schools for
26 years.
Snead is a
graduate of
William M.
Raines Senior
Snead has
BONNIE BRESNYAN ‘Teacher of the Year’
been a paraprofessional at Dover Elementary School since 1993.
She is committed to help- ing ESOL students achieve their potential and has been instrumental in raising funds in times of crisis as well as for providing stimulating experi- ences, from arranging for free funeral services for parents to free bus transportation for a Disney World dream trip. She is involved in the community and has served as Nativity Church’s Hispanic Youth Group Director and has as- sisted with Relay for Life, fall festivals and Volunteer Appre- ciation events.
“Teacher of the Year”
Finalists
Four other educators were listed among the finalists for the “Teacher of the Year” Award.
Ms. Jennifer Jackson
has taught in Hillsborough County Pub-
lic Schools
for the past
five years.
Ms. Jack-
son gradu-
ated from the
University of
South Florida
with a Bache-
lor of Science
degree in Bio-
medical Sci-
ences. Some of her most proud accomplishments include working as a teacher research fellow at Northwestern Uni-
CHRISTINE T. CAMPBELL ‘Ida S. Baker
thepresenta- DiversityEducator tion. of the Year’
MEREDITH MULLIN
Mrs.
Campbell is currently as- signed to Van Buren K-8 School as the Social Worker. She has a strong Christian faith and is a devoted wife and mother.
Mrs. Campbell earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of South Florida. After complet- ing a stint in the U. S. Army,
JENNIFER JACKSON
NICOLE
trict for 7
years. She
grew up in
Tampa, and is
a graduate of
Hillsborough
High School.
She continued
her education
at the Univer-
sity of South
Florida, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Special Education and a Master’s de- gree in Educational Leader- ship with American College of Education.
She is married and the mother of two children.
Mrs. Meredith Mullen
SNEAD
is a New Jer-
sey native
who moved to
Tampa to at-
tend the Uni-
versity of
Tampa. She
received her
Bachelor’s in
Elementary
Education,
and continued
her education
at the University of South Florida, where she earned her Master’s in Special Education.
Currently assigned to Lockhart Elementary School, Mrs. Meredith works closely with Where Love Grows, a nonprofit whose mission is to combat childhood hunger.
graduated
from Hills-
borough
Community
College. She
recently
earned an As-
sociate’s De-
gree in Education, and has been employed by the Hills- borough County School Dis- trict since 2013.
She has been working at Muller Elementary Magnet School for the last four years where she has been nominated two times for the ISEOY. She considers her greatest accom- plishment as raising her two daughters as a single mother, while continuing her profes- sional career.
She is one of the organizers of the Multicultural Recycled Fashion Show, member of the Marketing and Culture Com- mittee.
JONATHAN COLLIER
ALICIA FOJACO
High School LEONARD
in Jack- sonville.
Assigned to Lockhart Ele- mentary School, Mr. Snead is a certified Master Custo- dian, and is credited with tran- sitioning the school into a hurricane shelter. He is in- spired by his father’s words, “be the best you can be and be consistent.”
Ms. Talina Ugarte was born in Mex-
ico City, and
she recently
TALINA UGARTE