Miami-Dade Educators and Students to be Honored With Nova Southeastern “Cervantes Awards”

More than two dozen Miami-Dade County educators and students will be honored by Nova Southeastern University at the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in Miami, Fla., Tuesday, October 16, from 6-8p.m., during the Fourth Annual “Cervantes Awards” programs. NSU’s Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services and its Hispanic Advisory Board offer the awards program.

Sixteen honored educators will receive the “Cervantes Outstanding Educator Award,” based on their significant efforts to support excellence in the education of Hispanic students in the Miami-Dade County. In addition, Mrs. Rosa Sugranes, Chair and Founder of Iberia Tiles, will receive a special “Cervantes Award” for her leadership and dedication to the Hispanic community, particularly in education issues.

Nine students will receive the “Cervantes Outstanding Student Essay Award” based on judged essays submitted from schools across the country. Essay topics are “What I value about the Hispanic culture,” for fifth graders; “Hispanic role models who have influenced my life,” for eighth graders; and “How my education has led me to contribute to the Hispanic community of Miami,” for high school seniors.

For the fourth year in a row, NSU’s Cervantes Awards reception is an officially recognized event of the Hispanic Heritage Festival.

As special entertainment, the Maria Verdeja Folkloric Dance Company of Coral Gables will present 20 of its members performing traditional and authentic choreographs, in elaborate costumes representing the culture of their Hispanic heritage. In addition, the Jazz Catz of Our Lady of Lourdes Academy will perform.

Miami-Dade county public and private schools educators being honored include:

• Ricardo Briz, Director of Admissions , Archbishop Curley-Notre Dame High School, Miami

• Rosa Castro-Feinberg, Ed.D. Professor, School of Education, Florida International University and retired Miami-Dade School Board member;

• Ana Chao, Activities Director and mathematics teacher, Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, Miami;

• Dr. Lupe Diaz, Chair of the Business Department and Lead teacher for the Visitor Industry Academy, Miami Beach Senior High School, Miami Beach;

• Rina Faz, Head of the Foreign Language Department, St. Brendan High School, Miami;

• Leonor Gonzales, Spanish teacher, James H. Bright Elementary School in Hialeah;

• Maria del Carmen S. Gonzales, Principal, Skyway Elementary School, Opa-Locka;

• Marta A. Leyva, Associate Superintendent-School Operations, Miami-Dade County Public Schools;

• Carmen B. Marineli, Principal, South West Miami Senior High School;

• Leopoldo B. Nunez, Executive Assistant Principal, Belen Jesuit Prepatory School, Miami;

• Mirta Oramas, Spanish teacher, Gulliver Schools, Miami;

• Alberto Rodriguez, Principal, American Senior High School, Hialeah;

• Osvaldo N. Soto, Attorney and Board member, Spanish America League Against Discrimination;

• Cristina Vera-Silva, Spanish teacher, Monsignor Edward Pace High School, Miami;

• Dr. Julio Vitores, Christopher Columbus High School, Miami;

Students to be honored are being selected this week by a judging committee of the University’s Hispanic Advisory Board, and will be announced on Thursday, October 11.

Nova Southeastern University is the largest independent university in the southeastern United States, with more than 18,500 students, 2,700 employees and 62,000 graduates in fields ranging from education and business to law, medicine, psychology and oceanography.

NSU’s Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services, based at the North Miami Beach campus, is the largest accredited graduate school of education in the United States, with more than 10,000 students studying in more than 60 sites in the U.S. and abroad, and via a variety of distance education technologies. Programs include associate’s, master’s, educational specialist and doctoral degrees in a wide range of specialization’s, and an array of non-degree professional and staff development programs.

For more information, please contact Brian Crosswhite at 954/262-8651.