Salem teacher wins 2022 educator of the year

SALEM, Mass. — Marta García, second and third grade ESL teacher with Salem Witchcraft Heights Elementary school wins 2022 Teacher of the Year award.

“We are proud to award Marta García with this year’s Teacher of the Year Award,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “Teachers like Ms. García support students, families and schools with care and kindness, and she is an excellent representative of the Commonwealth’s teachers.”

García is the first Salem teacher to win teacher of the year and the 60th recipient of the award. She will automatically become the Massachusetts’ candidate for the National Teacher of the Year program.

García has been teaching for 23 years and 15 of those 23 years she has taught multilingual learners.

“Ms. García recognizes the strengths that English learners bring to the classroom and the importance of connecting with their families,” said Education Secretary James Peyser. “Her role, and the role of ESL teachers statewide, is a critical one as we seek to serve all students and help people from different backgrounds grow and learn together.”

“Teachers are tremendous assets to our children,” said Senator Joan Lovely. “As an ESL teacher, Ms. García has helped Salem’s bilingual and bicultural students and families navigate the school system. She is setting our kids up for success, taking every effort to make sure they’re prepared to navigate the world before them. Great teachers change lives, and Ms. García has proven that she is a great teacher. Congratulations!”

“In my daily teaching, I try to help students nurture their identities and feel proud of their origins as they acquire new ways of seeing the world through a new culture and language,” Ms. García wrote in her application. “I consider myself the bridge on which my students can navigate opportunities coming from both sides, without rejecting one or the other.”

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