NWP Teacher-Consultant Named Massachusetts Teacher of the Year

Publication: Boston Globe
Date: June 12, 2010

Summary: Floris Wilma Ortiz-Marrero, an NWP ELL teacher-consultant responsible for shaping the way ELL students are taught in Massachusetts, was named Massachusetts Teacher of the Year at a ceremony in Boston.

Excerpt from Article

Coming from a family of teachers, Ortiz-Marrero recalls as a child lining up her dogs in a makeshift classroom at her home in Puerto Rico, giving them little pieces of paper (and detention when they misbehaved).

"I loved to spend time teaching my dogs how to read and write," Ortiz-Marrero said. "I feel that's why I wanted to be a teacher." After moving to the United States in 1985, Ortiz-Marrero enrolled in ESL classes so she could work toward a teaching degree.

"Teaching English is complex and takes time," said Ortiz-Marrero, who has been at Amherst since 1993. "My goal is to empower students to be able to advocate for themselves, to inquire about the world."

Massachusetts Teacher of the Year Ceremony

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Read Educator Honored for Teaching Language, Confidence in the Boston Globe.