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2002 Sheroes: Teachers of the Year
Connie Hines For Connie Hines, being named Broward County’s 2003 Teacher of the Year was a thrill. The eighth-grade social studies teacher at Sunrise Middle School has gone above and beyond to insure that her students not only excel at academics but also get involved in the community. She has been teaching for 13 years and has been at Sunrise Middle for the past three and a half. During her time there, she has always made sure to involve parents and family members in their children’s education. As she explains, they are her greatest allies. With that in mind, she frequently visits them at their houses and happily hands out her business card with her home phone number. As for promoting civic responsibility and motivating students to get involved in the community, Hines feels as if it is her duty. She has organized numerous community projects, such as the sale of “freedom bracelets” that her class created after September 11. The students sold them and raised almost $2,000, which they donated to the American Red Cross to aid 9/11 relief efforts. They also helped over 150 Fort Lauderdale families, who had been affected by layoffs, by organizing a canned food drive. Through it all, Hines realizes just how instrumental her profession is in molding and shaping the lives of her students. She has not only accepted that responsibility but taken it to another level to become Broward County’s top teacher. Dr. Anita Meyer Meinbach As Dr. Anita Meyer Meinbach sees it, becoming a teacher was her calling in life. That’s why she was a natural choice for Miami-Dade County’s 2003 Teacher of the Year award. A 30-year veteran in the field of education, Dr. Meinbach teaches language arts to sixth-grade students at Southwood Elementary. As an author of more than a dozen books, she is extremely passionate about getting her students to develop a love of reading. That passion has even extended beyond her very own classroom. Six years ago, Dr. Meinbach established Grand Conversations, a gathering at a bookstore that gives students from area middle schools the opportunity to meet authors and discuss books. She has also focused her resources and energies on teaching students about the Holocaust. As a recognized Holocaust educator, she co-authored “Memories of the Night: A Study of the Holocaust,” along with Miriam Klein Kassenhoff. Dr. Meinbach, who graduated from the University of Florida in 1971, is also armed with a master’s degree from Georgia State University and a doctorate from the University of Miami. She began her teaching career in Atlanta and then returned to Miami in 1984 to teach at Tropical Elementary. For the past eight years, she has been a teacher at Southwood Elementary, where she has been inspiring and challenging students to break beyond everyday boundaries. As she explains, “I was born to teach, and after all these years, I am still passionate about what I do.” Sue Baety Thanks to her outstanding efforts as a chorus teacher at Hammocks Middle School, Sue Baety was a runner-up for this year’s Miami-Dade County Teacher of the Year award. A 37-year veteran educator, Baety has spent the last 11 years of her career helping students strengthen their self-esteem through her chorus class. Her talented Hurricane Singers group has even performed in various venues around the country and won several awards. Janet Campbell Janet Campbell has spent the past few years at Barbara Goleman Senior High helping students pass the necessary competency tests that are required for them to graduate high school. A finalist for the 2003 Miami-Dade County Teacher of the Year, she has helped approximately 92.5 percent of her students pass the exams. Campbell, who hails from Kingston, Jamaica, first arrived in Miami in 1979, and she has been teaching at Barbara Goleman since 1995. Marcia Alexander As a history and civics teacher at Ruben Dario Middle School, Marcia Alexander, a finalist for Miami-Dade County Teacher of the Year, has stimulated her students to learn by taking a multimedia approach to aid her lessons. Using videos, newspapers and the Internet, Campbell’s students learn about subjects through various mediums. Born in Jamaica, Campbell began teaching in 1979 and is very proud of her school’s participation in the Black History Brain Bowl, in which her students have fared well against the likes of older high school competitors. Cynthia Rhodes Kinney As an exceptional education teacher at a school known for producing exceptional artists and performers, Cynthia Kinney has helped students at New World School of the Arts excel in the five subjects she teaches. Kinney, a finalist for Miami-Dade County Teacher of the Year, earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of South Florida and began working with exceptional students in 1970 at Shadowlawn Elementary. After some time at Ponce Middle and Gables High, she went to New World in 1997. Lori Nazareno As a science teacher at the School for Applied Technology, Lori Nazareno has been teaching at-risk students to love the subject and to want to learn more. A finalist for Miami-Dade County Teacher of the Year, Nazareno started teaching in 1987 at North Miami Beach High. She then moved to the School for Applied Technology seven years later and recently attained the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification, which is based on extremely high and rigorous standards. Rosann Lynn Bagdasarian For the past 25 years, Rosann Lynn Bagdasarian has been molding young minds in the classroom. At Hallandale Adult Community School, she works with mentally, physically and emotionally challenged students everyday and finds countless ways to ignite their love of learning. Bagdasarian, a Broward County Teacher of the Year finalist, tailors her lessons to meet the strengths of all her students, which she considers to be “diamonds in the rough.” Edna Craig Edna Craig realizes the important role that parents play in a child’s education. As a teacher at Harbordale Elementary, she tries to constantly communicate with parents throughout the school year because, as she explains, “it is important to make the connection between school and home.” An educator for the past 26 years, Craig was a finalist for this year’s Broward County Teacher of the Year, and she hopes that all of her students gain the three R’s of life – Respect, Responsibility and Resourcefulness. Angela Fulton Being named a finalist for Broward County teacher of the Year was a delightful surprise for Angela Fulton, who has since been promoted to assistant principal at Silver Trail Middle School. Fulton was recognized for her excellent work teaching mathematics to sixth-grade students at Silver Trail for the past eight years. In order to get parents more involved in students’ lessons, she even created the school’s first-ever Family Math Night for families to better understand the concepts their children are learning in school. Maria-Teresa Gonzalez Maria-Teresa Gonzalez has had an extremely busy schedule this school year. Not only has she taught science to exceptional students at Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High, but she has also coached two sports and advised the senior class. Campbell, a finalist for Miami-Dade County Teacher of the Year, is a 10-year teaching veteran who came to Krop Senior High in 1992 and has been challenging her students to succeed ever since. Nina Kovachy Nina Kovachy has always tried to treat her students the way she wanted other teachers to treat her own sons. The philosophy has paid off – the educator recently was named as a finalist for Broward County Teacher of the Year. Kovachy has been a kindergarten teacher at Maplewood Elementary for the past 15 years, but she has been teaching for over three decades. Cathy Kuhns Cathy Kuhns has devoted the last 18 years of her life to education and has spent the last 10 years as a first and second grade teacher at Country Hills Elementary. A finalist for Broward County Teacher of the Year, Kuhns also mentors fellow teachers, both from within her community, as well as ones from out of state. She is also quick to encourage parents to work as volunteers in her classroom, explaining that she is “always eager to share the hard, powerful and important work that teachers are accomplishing every day with the children who will impact our future.” Kate Treado Kate Treado is not your typical librarian. She is the media specialist at Sheridan Hills Elementary in Hollywood and has quickly made her media center the instructional hub of the school. Treado, a finalist for Broward County Teacher of the Year, has been an educator for 13 years and has been happy to use the latest technology to help students answer their most pressing educational questions. Annejeanette Wooten Annejeanette Wooten has devoted her entire nine-year teaching career to her students at Rickards Middle School. Her tireless efforts and dedication earned her Broward County Teacher of the Year Finalist honors. Wooten, who teaches sixth-grade social studies and reading, also visits colleges and universities across Florida, encouraging students to earn a degree in education. She explains to them that teaching has a positive impact not only on the children, but on the teachers as well.
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