Precious Symonette, a Creative Writing teacher at Miami Norland Senior High, was named the 2017 Francisco R. Walker Miami-Dade County Teacher of the Year in a ceremony at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Miami Airport & Convention Center tonight.
Four finalists vied for the coveted title this year, which included one nominee from each of the District’s three regions, and one from Alternative/Adult Education.
The decade-long teaching veteran who teaches 10th and 12th grade students, is no stranger to top teaching honors. She has been Miami Norland’s Teacher of the Year two years in a row. Symonette loves the journaling process that is part of her Creative Writing classes because it provides her with an opportunity to learn about joys, fears and predicaments that her students live through on a daily basis while helping her to discover the writer which exists within each of her students. The runner-up was Lema Gilliard from MAST @ Homestead.
Also recognized at the event were top rookie teachers. Mia Esposito, a teacher at Lenora B. Smith Elementary, was named Rookie Teacher of the Year. Rachael Taryn Kraemer, a teacher at Robert Morgan Educational Center was the Rookie Teacher of the Year runner-up.
The signature sponsors are Delta Dental Insurance, United Way of Miami-Dade, Kendall Toyota and the South Florida Educational Federal Credit Union. The supporting sponsors are Univision 23 and UniMas 69, Fox-Mar Photography, and the Abraham S. Fischler School of Education at Nova Southeastern University, in partnership with United Teachers of Dade (UTD), Miami-Dade County Council of PTAs/PTSAs and the Dade Association of School Administrators (DASA). Kendall Toyota will present the winner with the keys to a new car.
