Rafaela Cruz and Jeannette Gallup have been named Teacher of the Year and Rookie Teacher of the Year, respectively, at Barbara Goleman Senior High School.Cruz. an Honors Chemistry and Physical Science teacher, has 27 years of experience in teaching beginning with her role as a teaching assistant at Rutgers University where she earned her BSN in nursing, M.S. in zoology, and Ph.D. in Biochemistry. Having always been interested in science...

Wherever Judy Parker goes, her former students always recognize her, even if they don’t see her face.“I was ordering food at the drive-thru at KFC and a former student recognized my voice,” she said. “She said, ‘is that you, Mrs. Parker’? It’s amazing when people, especially the kids who you have taught, recognize you after all of these years.”  For 35 years, Parker’s voice echoed...

Hialeah Miami Lakes Senior High School has a proven track record of improvement and success over the last decade and to continue to enhance the resources available to students, the school is inaugurating the AP Capstone program for the upcoming school year. iPrep lead teacher, Jennifer Murray, noted that the success of the school is due to a changing culture of expectation for reaching potential. Last school year, HML surpassed the...

Miami Lakes K-8 teacher Suzanne Choopani introduced the self-published book Little Snowy written by her niece, Behnaz Barazesh, to her classroom and like wildfire, the students and teachers alike were won over by Snowy and his adventures.Barazesh, a Ph.D. student who studies the early detection of cancer, sent Choopani a rough draft of the story along with her watercolor illustrations. Little Snowy tells the uplifting story of a snowman who...

The Miami Lakes Middle School Warrior Band has had a banner year.At Solo and Ensemble Festival in February, the band earned 65 Superior Ratings and six Excellent Ratings. This was a new record for the group. In March, the Concert Band received a Superior rating in Concert and in Sight-reading at Hialeah Gardens High School at the FBA Music Performance Assessment Festival.On May 1, the following six students performed in the Superintendent's...