Every week, we honor a Valley educator who is making a difference in their students’ lives. Today two teachers from Mountain Sky Junior High are being recognized, because of how they inspire their students. They say it’s because of those who inspired them.
“I had some former students who asked me... reached out to me and asked me to nominate Formichella and Dop, just because of the impact that they made on their lives,” said Krystin Yee, math interventionist at Mountain Sky Junior High. “These kids are willing to go and be in their room during lunch, they’ll come in at lunch all the time just to sit and talk. The subsequent result of that is when they’re in class and the expectation is academic, they are willing to put that work in. “
“Miss Dop really great math teacher and I think she deserves this award,” said Khalia Enriquez, one of Miss Dop’s students. “
“She has a lot of ambition in her work and she makes her students want to come to school… she doesn’t just teach us, she shows us love and she’s very passionate about her job.”
Enriquez says she’s always happy and it makes everybody around her happy. She says it gets her students ready to learn.
“I think it’s amazing,” said Kailyn Dop, 8th grade teacher. “I love that I have been recognized. I had some great teachers growing up. My 2nd grade teacher actually kind of made me want to be a teacher. She really took care of all of us and she challenged us and knew we could do more.”
“I want to take care of all my students,” she said. “I want to safe and have fun in the classroom.”
“My teacher is Mr. Formichella and I like him, because he’s very chill,” said Merna Ablahad, student. “We’re 13 and 14, he gets how we talk and what we like.”
“My mom has taught for 30 years, so she would kind of push me toward it,” said Cameron Formichella, 8th grade science teacher. “She said my wallet might be empty, but my heart is going to be full. That really resonated with me.”
“Contributing to the community and making a difference was something that I really wanted to be a part of,” he said.
Formichella’s favorite scientist is Carl Sagan and he tries to promote his work to his students as much as he can.
“For the kids to recognize the hard work, and recognize the dedication and passion that we have, it truly means everything,” said Formichella.
If you know a teacher who deserves to be recognized as one of our 12 News A+ teachers, email us at connect@12news.com.