In a surprise announcement, the 2014 Orange County Teacher of the Year is Westridge Middle School teacher, Dorina Sackman. The announcement was made last night during the district’s annual Teacher of the Year Awards ceremony at the Rosen Centre Hotel.
As the OCPS 2014 Teacher of the Year, among the prizes Ms. Sackman will receive is a one-year lease of a vehicle from Carl Black of Orlando, a two-night stay at the Rosen Centre Hotel, a three-day cruise to the Bahamas from Employee Travel Services, $5,000 from OCPS, $500 from CFE Federal Credit Union, a Teacher of the Year ring from Herff Jones, and four tickets to Legoland.
Ms. Sackman is a teacher for students who are English Language Learners (ELL). She speaks five languages. She has been teaching in Florida for seven years with four of those years at Westridge Middle. Her colleagues say she has the utmost enthusiasm and spends the majority of her teaching career seeking innovative instructional methods for ELLs then shares her findings with her colleagues. She incorporates unique and energetic instructional activities that promote positive student interaction and collaboration. Ms. Sackman is also a mentor and role model for at-risk youth. To see Ms. Sackman and all of the finalists at work in the classroom click here.
Dorina Sackman will now go on to the 2014 Florida Department of Education/Macy’s Teacher of the Year event in July 2013.
