Position: Fifth Grade ESL Teacher
School: Marie L. Greenwood Academy
School District: Denver Public Schools
City, State: Denver, CO
Lucy DeFlavio was nominated by an acquaintance who wishes to remain anonymous.
As a recent honors graduate from the University of Vermont, Ms. DeFlavio moved across the country to Denver, CO to help fill a gap in teachers.
As an ELA-English fifth grade teacher at Greenwood Academy, she embraced educational and social challenges to teaching 26 primarily Latino students who live below the federal poverty level.
Ms. DeFlavio met these challenges head-on, earning a Teacher of the Week award in the spring of last year. As her supervisor said, she collaborates with her team on a regular basis. In August, she learned that her 60 hour workweeks paid off. Last year’s class showed significant improvements in test scores, particularly in math.