The Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust paid tribute to Miami Lakes Middle School teacher Lisa Deyarza as the recipient of the 2016 Ethical Governance Day Award during a ceremony on October 25 that brought county and school officials to the Mock Courtroom that Deyarza envisioned and built using grants, donations and personal labor.
In addition to opening the Mock Courtroom in 2014, Deyarza initiated a schoolwide annual Mock Trial Competition – the first for a middle school. The students play all roles in trials as they learn about the justice system.
Among the many other accomplishments in her efforts to help her students become better citizens, Deyarza created the Legal Studies Magnet Program at Miami Lakes Middle a dozen years ago and opened the Biliterate Program in Social Studies.
The 2006 “Teacher of the Year” for her school has led her students to win multiple awards in civic competitions including “We The People,” “Model United Nations” and “Project Citizen.” Her students were state winners six years in a row in Project Citizen and also earned a Superior National Rating.
Ethics Commission executive director Joseph Centorino presented a plaque to Deyarza, along with Miami-Dade District 13 County Commissioner Esteban Bovo Jr., in front of other school officials, parents and students in her Legal Studies class.
Referring to Deyarza as a “civic hero,” Centorino told the pre-teens, “It is with you, our future citizens, for which the success of our nation will depend, and what Deyarza does is so critical to your participation.”
Miami-Dade Schools North District superintendent Jose Bueno added that the students are “being well-prepared to be the future,” thanks to their teacher.
A political activist in her own right, Deyarza has volunteered on many campaigns, been active in several community service organizations and has been a member of the school’s Educational Excellence School Advisory Council for more than a decade.
While accepting the award, Deyarza said she was gratified that “what I like to do… what I love to do… is being recognized.”
The award was part of the Ethics Commission’s 5th annual Ethical Governance Day. More than 200 civic activists spoke in government and economics classes in dozens of Miami-Dade senior high schools to share with students the importance of civic activism and ethics in government.