PHOENIX — In June, KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Outspoken with Bruce and Gaydos’ Pay Tribute to a Teacher award went to Janina Perez, a Phoenix teacher.
Perez teaches kindergarten at Laveen Elementary School, which is near 43rd and Olney avenues.
She hopes to use the $2,500 award to help her sister’s family return to the U.S. after a three-year army deployment to Korea.
Why she was picked for June’s Pay Tribute to a Teacher award
A parent whose son learned from her class nominated her for the award, saying she encourages students and makes them look forward to going to class every day.
“I just love kindergarteners,” Perez told KTAR News. “It’s their first time being away from home. It’s the parents’ first time not being with their kids for eight hours.”
Although she has been teaching kindergarten for 12 years, she never gets tired of helping children develop their lifelong love of learning.
“I just love kids. so much. I just want to cuddle them all day, but I also want to teach them,” Perez said. “When they come into kindergarten, we have to teach them the basics, and when those basics start clicking, just seeing their eyes light up and ‘Okay, okay,’ and just building, building and building.”
The parent who nominated her expressed the safety they feel dropping their kids off with Perez — and the pride they feel seeing how much their kids have learned.
“When you see them and they’re ready for first grade, it’s just — there’s such growth in kindergarten,” Perez said. “It’s just amazing.”
Want to nominate somebody for the Pay Tribute to a Teacher award? Submissions are accepted here.
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