Teacher of the Year 2009

Each year, individual schools across the District honor one of their teachers as the school’s Teacher of the Year. These teachers are entered into the District’s Teacher of the Year program. The top eight teachers in the District are then interviewed by a District-based committee composed of past Teachers of the Year, District administrators, union representatives, parent leaders and community members – and it’s that committee that selects Broward’s top teacher.

2009 TEACHER OF THE YEAR
Nicole Marsala, a Social Studies teacher at Coral Springs Middle School, has a simple goal – all students will understand their civic responsibilities in order to become better informed citizens and, ultimately, future leaders. She believes in teaching history as a breathtaking story that is full of intrigue, deceit, honor, and independence. In Marsala’s class, students learn that history is not only what is in books. She teaches her students that history is alive and changing and uses a variety of strategies in order to meet the diverse needs of her students.

Marsala is known for her creative teaching techniques. To bring the trek of Lewis and Clark to light and make it more real, she takes her students to a nearby park for “Lewis and Clark Day.” The students journal about the weather and what they see, collect leaves, do bark rubbings, sketch trees and map-out the park. Each year her students look forward to Civil War Reenactment. They write plays about a Civil War battle, act out and videotape their plays and then use i-Movie to edit their films.

Marsala has an open-door policy. Parents with an interest in history listen in on her classes and participate in many of the activities. She even holds parent nights to teach parents activities they can do to instill a love of history and civics in their children.

A teacher for eight years, all of them at Coral Springs Middle, Marsala holds National Board Certification in Early Adolescent Social Studies and History.

2009 TEACHER OF THE YEAR FINALIST