Rookie Teacher of the Year

Jack-Arthur Whitlock

Every year there is a teacher award ceremony with different categories one of the categories is a rookie teacher of the year. This year the teacher from Miami Springs senior high who won the award was Mr. Acosta.  

Yes, Mr. Acosta is a rookie teacher at Miami Springs Senior High. He is in the Prologis Trade and Logistics Academy. His specialty is teaching his students technology. He has 10 years of logistics, aviation, and real estate experience. He has licenses and certifications in all the following: Forklift Certification / Lift Truck Operator Safety Training, Teacher License, Career And Technical Education, The Florida Department of Education, Loadmaster Certification (Boeing 747), Hazmat/Dangerous Goods 1-6 Course, International Air Transport Association (IATA), Real Estate Sales Associate License. He is a very experienced teacher and cares deeply about his students. For 2019 he won teacher of the year and it is deservedly so.  

Because of his achievements, we had the opportunity to ask Mr Acosta a few questions about his teaching and to learn more about him and why he is such an awesome and respected teacher.  

The first question was: “How does it feel to be given teacher of the year?” His response was: “It feels great man. It’s a great honor. I do what I do for my students, I don’t do it for awards you know. But it’s a great honor and I appreciate it, I appreciate all my colleagues and we’ll see if I can win the whole thing you know regional and all that.” 

What made you want to become a teacher? 

“I just wanted to help people you know? I wanted to help other students, saw there was a lot of opportunities here in Miami and I had a lot of context in business and stuff but I also wanted to work a little bit less too like in terms of hours. I was working 10, 15 hour days in the business world but I also had a lot of context and I wanted to help students out when I go to a high school in the logistics program which I do for a living before so yeah, that’s pretty much it.”  

Third question: What is the most important thing to you about being a teacher? 

“Most important thing is making sure students reach the goal not just in the classroom but also in life. I had a kid the other day who never went in a plane before, never considered it a career and I put him in the flight simulator and now he said he wants to be a pilot. That is the coolest thing ever you know? I get to relive it so that’s what I gain from it.”  

What is some advice you want to give to some upcoming teachers? 

“Make sure you’re doing the right thing. It’s a very rewarding job. The most important thing I think is to build a relationship with your students because if you don’t know your students, if you don’t know their names, you don’t know where they came from, you don’t know any of that you’re not going to be able to build a relationship so that’s the most important thing is once you connect with your students then all of a sudden you can make a real difference in their lives and make a change in their lives and for the better obviously. That’s the most important thing always a build a relationship with your students and look out for that, listen to them, and you’ll see the result. You’ll see they’ll deliver in the classroom and in life. You build relationships that last a lifetime and that is very special.” 

From the knowledge we gained, we can tell that Mr. Acosta was very knowledgeable about how to control a classroom and influence others to do their very best.  The information about relationships was very honest and real. Mr Acosta continues to teach his tech program at Miami Springs High School, and we, as a school, hope he makes it to regionals.