Hispanic Magazine Honored 2006 Teacher of the Year.

On February 28th, Hispanic Magazine along with NORDSTROM, Inc. honored Mrs. Marguerite Imperial Kirschner with the 2006 Teacher of the Year award. Mrs. Kirschner is a Foreign Language teacher and Department Head at Cypress Bay High School in Weston, FL. A national panel of Hispanic leaders and educators selected Mrs. Kirschner from a pool of over 115 nominees.

The selection process begins with open-nominations and teachers are then selected based on experience, extra curricular activity contributions and accomplishments beyond the classroom. In addition, nomination letters are reviewed by a panel made up of an editorial committee. In the case of Mrs. Kirschner, hundred of signatures were sent of students nominating and showing their support of her mentoring.

“Ms. K”, as her students call her, has been Department Chair for over eighteen years and co-advisor of the National Honor Society. She has been teaching Advanced Placement classes for 20 years and has taught upper level education at Broward Community College for more than ten years.

According to Cypress Bay High School Principal, Charles Scott Neely, “Marguerite is a teacher who goes well above and beyond the call of duty. Her intelligence, wit, humility, and charisma are consistently able to motivate others to contribute their time, money and energy towards causes Marguerite promotes.”

Mrs. Kirschner earned her Masters Degree from Fordham University in Spanish and is trilingual; speaking English, Spanish, and French. She is a mother of two and despite her duties as a mother and educator; she still finds time to be involved in many community service projects such as Angel Tree Project, Diabetes Walkathon, Ronald McDonald House charity work, Peer Tutoring Programs, Clothing & Food Drives, and Brother to the Rescue, among many others.

HISPANIC Magazine and NORDSTROM, Inc have had the pleasure to present this award for twelve consecutive years. The reward program included an unforgettable trip to Washington, DC. Mrs. Kirschner was received at the White House by First Lady Laura Bush, and later met with officials from the Department of Education. She proceeded to the Capitol where she met Florida Congresswoman, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to honor Mrs. Marguerite Kirschner as the 2006 Teacher of the Year,” said Amelia Ransom Letcher, Vice President of Diversity Affairs for Nordstrom. “She is an outstanding educator in her field, and her commitment to education and community service is inspiring. After spending time with Ms. Kirschner, it is clear why her students nominated her for this award.”

“Now in its 12th year, our Teacher of the Year program continues to honor great educators throughout our nation. This year we had the honor to recognize Mrs. Kirschner for her leadership and contribution to Cypress Bay High School and her invaluable mentoring of her students,” said Mariano M. Faget, Publisher of Hispanic Magazine.