Phyllis Ruth Miller Elementary educator named Miami-Dade teacher of the year
Don Clerveaux loves science. He always has.
So when the opportunity arose in 2013 to be a science teacher at Orchard Villa Elementary School, 5720 NW 13th Ave., in Model City, Clerveaux, 45, jumped at the opportunity — and he’s been teaching the subject since.
Today, he teaches fifth-grade science and social studies at Phyllis Ruth Miller Elementary School, 840 NE 87th St., near Miami Shores. At Hialeah Gardens High School, he coaches football, track and field and strength and conditioning. (Before becoming an educator, he wanted to be a physical therapist.)
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Through it all, though, whether in the classroom or on the field, the Miami native approaches his role as an educator with love and understanding. He approaches students as if he’s their older brother: “I want them to understand that whatever they’re going through, it’ll be all right.”
On Tuesday, his love of science and his supportive approach to teaching earned him the district’s highest accolade: The 2024 Francisco R. Walker Teacher of the Year for Miami-Dade County Public Schools. (Even in his acceptance speech, he cited the number of seconds it has been since the Teacher of the Year application packets were due.)
Clerveaux received $5,500 for winning the top prize and will now advance to the statewide competition later this year.
Like previous years, teachers, administration and family members of the finalists attended the event, which was held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Miami Airport and Convention Center. About 1,100 people attended Tuesday night. Board Chair Mari Tere Rojas, United Teachers of Dade President Karla Hernandez-Mats and Superintendent Jose Dotres, among others, spoke.
Dotres, who marks his first year as superintendent next month and announced this year’s winner, encouraged everyone in the audience to celebrate teaching and those who teach.
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Clerveaux was one of four teachers competing for the prestigious title. Monique Bryant Clayton, 47, an educator at C.O.P.E. Center North, a West Little River school that provides mothers the ability to obtain their diploma while also offering daycare services for their child on campus at no cost, was named the runner-up.
North and south regional finalists Vanessa Radice, 40, an exceptional student education teacher at Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High School, and Khristal Gooding, 42, a history teacher at Robert Morgan Educational Center in southwest Miami-Made, were also in attendance Tuesday.
The district also recognized the 2023 rookie teacher of the year: Franquiana Williams, a teacher at Frederick Douglass Elementary, 314 NW 12th St., Miami. The runner-up was Soleil Lobato, a teacher at Hialeah Middle School.
