Being Miami-Dade’s teacher of the year takes sacrifice. Meet the four finalists.

Who is Francisco R. Walker, the namesake of Miami-Dade’s annual teacher of the year award?

It’s a grim story: He was a sixth-grade science teacher at Miami Edison Middle who was stabbed to death by a trespassing 17-year-old in 1982.

Walker made the ultimate sacrifice as a teacher — an omnipresent reality in today’s time. But every day, teachers make smaller, meaningful sacrifices. They trade higher wages and time with family and loved ones to serve students.

“It just basically just reminds you of the sacrifices you make in the classroom and what we’re willing to do for our students,” said Stephen M. Pereira, who’s in the running for the 2021 Francisco R. Walker Teacher of the Year award, of Walker’s story.

“I do not think of how much, but I think of what I can do each day to maximize on results,” said Vanessa M. Valle, the North Region nominee. “As teachers who are responsible for not only making the best in numbers but also molding our children to be future leaders to go out there into the world and to make a difference in a positive way.”

Central Region nominee Ashley C. R. Vangates has sacrificed her time and finances but offered a different perspective:

“I no longer look at it as a sacrifice. I look at it as an opportunity,” she said. “For me, having these opportunities, it’s a blessing.”

That’s how Lisa Y. Jones, the alternative education nominee, sees it, too:

“It’s not a sacrifice, it’s a passion,” Jones said. “You do what it takes to make sure all of your students have the opportunity and potential to succeed.”

The 2021 teacher of the year — the honoree carries that title though the next school year — will be named Jan. 30 along with the rookie teacher of the year. The awards dinner will be at 6 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Miami Airport & Convention Center at 711 NW 72nd Ave. The winner will advance to the state-level competition.

North Region: Vanessa M. Valle, Hialeah Gardens Senior High

Valle has a full plate. She teaches English II, intensive reading, FIU dual enrollment, a class for English for Speakers of Other Languages and a thinking skills class. She’s also a literacy coach, chairperson for the Reading Department and lead teacher for Hialeah Gardens’ academy of law. That’s all on top of studying toward a doctorate, teaching an online class at FIU and tending to her three children.

Of all those roles, Valle loves being in the classroom the most. She was out of the classroom for six years to model her methods for other teachers but missed teaching students too much. She put in a request to return to the classroom.

“I feel like I’m living my happily ever after every time I walk into my classroom,” said Valle, 37. “This is beyond my fairy tale ending. This is an experience that’s unexplainable. It’s very surreal.”

Her involvement touches nearly every student at Hialeah Gardens Senior High, especially those who accomplish what they first thought they could not achieve. It’s what keeps her going.

“Our secret is in showing them who believes in them,” she says. “They become so accustomed to failure ... that they envision anything that they do as wrong or inadequate. [It’s] knowing that they’re their biggest cheerleader and that you’re after them and know that they can do it.”

It’s like sprinkling fairy dust, she says. “seeing transformations before my eyes,” when unsure students take dual-enrollment classes at her behest.

“They’re shocked at the fact that you even approached them because they feel they’re not capable of it, and then when they’re in it, they feel like they’re on top of the world,” Valle said.

The students have now become her cheerleaders as she makes her way through the teacher of the year process, which she’s been nominated for a few times.

South Region: Stephen M. Pereira Jr., School of Advanced Studies — Wolfson Campus

Pereira has put his one acting class from college to good use: Every day, he brings U.S. history lessons to life for his students.

His voice is gruff for his best Richard Nixon. It’s got a drawl when he’s Bill Clinton.

“It’s performance art,” said Pereira, 38. “It’s the only way I’ve ever done it. It’s the only way I ever understood it as what teaching is.”

That was the only way education came across to him as an often-homeless student. For years, he bounced around schools, disinterested at reading texts and milquetoast lectures. He would recreate the scenes in his head and crack jokes in class for the material to stick.

“I’ve always just said, when I became a teacher, I have to incorporate this,” he said. “And the kids have responded well to it so I’ve been doing it ever since.”

Pereira is doing something right: 100% of his students have passed the Advanced Placement U.S. History End of Course exam for the past four years. His students score, on average, 35 points higher than the global norm on the AP exams.

“Mr. P” has been well known everywhere he has taught: Doral Academy, Miami Central Senior High and School for Advanced Studies, Wolfson Campus — where he’s worked for the past six years.

“It’s work, but it’s fun, no matter where I taught,” he says. “If you talk to my students, no matter what school, they all have the same stories: There’s never a day off. There’s always work.”

Central Region: Ashley C. R. Vangates — George Washington Carver Elementary

Vangates’ students know what to expect when they get to Room 22 at George Washington Carver Elementary.

She does what she calls a wellness check: She lines up her fourth-graders outside the classroom, looks them in the eye and greets them individually. Once inside, the class has a daily affirmation: “No put downs, no negativity, only positive things,” she tells them. “We will not be afraid of challenges, we will take them head on, success is our only option, and we are #1.”

“Once that tone is set, once that confidence is built, I can deliver the content and everyone’s having a good time in room 22,” said Vangates, 32.

The fun doesn’t stop there. The reading and language arts teacher changes the lyrics to top 40 songs so her students can remember strategies to writing informational and opinion essays.

She does what she can to stay relevant to her students. She uses a student engagement platform called Nearpod that allows her to pose questions to her class. Students then collaborate and submit any questions they have back to Vangates through the platform.

“As a teacher, I am student-centered,” she said. “Everything about what I do in my career is driven by who I call my kids.”

Technology and catchy tunes aside, she tries to instill in her students a motto her mother instilled in her as a single parent who put herself through college and law school. Vangates’ mother is veteran school district administrator Ronda Vangates.

“My grandmother was quoted by the Herald as saying my mom is obligated to succeed,” said Ashley Vangates. “I tried to deliver that to my students, that they are obligated to succeed.”

Alternative Education: Lisa Y. Jones — C.O.P.E. Center North

Lisa Jones has spent her career in the background when it comes to kids.

She started here career in Miami-Dade County Public Schools as a student services administrator, keeping a close eye on attendance, truancy and dropout prevention. Then she left to help juvenile offenders with their mental health for the public defender’s office. She’s back as a counselor and mindfulness instructor at C.O.P.E. Center North, a school for young mothers.

“I call us the unsung heroes. [We’re] the ones in the background cheering our teachers on,” said Jones, 50. “It was really emotional for me to see my colleagues, teachers with years and years of tenure, 30-plus years minimum, to not only rally behind me but to just really lift me up and reaffirm every day that I deserve to be here. That is so humbling that it’s almost frightening.”

Now, Jones is at the forefront, representing all those “unsung heroes” who serve as guidance counselors.

It’s not her first time as a trailblazer. She was the first social worker at Miami Northwestern Senior High. And she was years ahead on the mindfulness movement. She guides mindfulness and meditation sessions at C.O.P.E. North four periods a day.

“I’m very vulnerable so they know I didn’t just arrive at being this great counselor,” she said. “I have moments where I even wonder if I am even giving them the best that I know how to give.”

It took her years to get here. She focused on her own behaviors and interactions with juveniles she was working with and the young mothers she now counsels.

“I don’t think anyone set out to become the first one,” Jones said. “You just chart your quest in life where you just follow your passion. I know my why. You set out to do what you believe is your call in life. There’s opportunity for that growth.”

This post has been corrected to reflect the correct regions of the central and south nominees.

This story was originally published January 23, 2020 at 8:00 AM.