LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Hakan Cimen Posted over a year ago

Wow I am finally coming across this news months later and sad to hear you retire. You were an amazing teacher to me and my classmates. You were selfless in the amount of countless hours you spent for your students and it definitely had at least some minor impacts on the man who I am today. At the very least, my vernacular has improved tenfold. (vernacular was one of the vocab words we had on the side wall back in 2015). I want to say thank you for everything you have done and sacrificed for us, and you were and still are greatly appreciated in the minds of many. Hope all is well , Hakan Cimen Class of 2015

Mindy Hochfelsen Posted over a year ago

Dear Kristy, Congratulations on your retirement! It was truly an honor and privilege teaching with you. You are an incredible teacher and your students have always admired you! They were so fortunate to have you as their English teacher. You are also a wonderful and caring person! I wish you the very best in your retirement - enjoy, relax, and have the best time. I will miss you! All the best, Mindy

Anita Foster Posted over a year ago

Congratulations and best wishes to you on your retirement! You definitely will be missed! I'll miss (not really) your seniors skipping class working on a project in the career center for you that you assigned weeks ago and they are waiting until the last minute to complete! Your struggle with these students was real but you managed to always get them through! I truly enjoyed working with you and always appreciated all you did for me when I was going through my medical issues. You are kind and thoughtful and it doesn't go unnoticed. Who knows, perhaps you will be working back in schools in another capacity as we have discussed before. :) Take care, keep in touch and enjoy this next phase of your life! Anita xo

Patricia Alessi-Rozzi Posted over a year ago

Congratulations on the LifeChanger of the Year Award, Kristy! You definitely deserve it! Wishing you a Happy, Healthy Retirement as well! Thank you for all of your encouragement with Health & Wellness and for your immense care and concern for our students. You will be greatly missed. Enjoy your free days ahead! Love, peace & health to you always. ~ Patricia

Mindy Hochfelsen Posted over a year ago

Dear Kristy, Congratulations on your retirement! It was truly an honor and privilege teaching with you! You are an incredible teacher and your students admire you. They were so fortunate to have you as their English teacher. You are also a wonderful and caring person! I wish you all the best in your retirement - enjoy, relax, and have the best time! I will miss you! All the best, Mindy

Mary Ann B McCabe Posted over a year ago

Kristy has been enthusiastic and tireless in her efforts to promote well being and wellness at Olympic Heights. She established a relaxation room, when I feel the need to just "get away" for a few minutes. She has brought snacks and rewards to encourage and celebrate US. I will miss her tremendously. Her shoes will be hard to fill.

Nancy Wise Posted over a year ago

Kristy Verzaal deserves to be recognized for this award. She has changed not only her student's lives, but the lives of many people as well. She is our school's wellness champion and makes sure that she reminds us to take care of our health and get our annual check ups. She not only has a big heart, but,helps us to take care of our own hearts. She even took an old storage room and made a relaxation room for teachers to take a break if needed since we don't have a teacher's lounge. She is also known as the Birthday Queen by reminding us of how special we are by celebrating our birthdays with cake and gift baskets.Yes!! she does this with her own money. She is one of the kindest and most humble people I know. So, please consider this very Kind and generous lady for this award.She has brought so much joy and smiles to so many and she is truly a treasure at our school.

Maria Delacruz Gutierrez Posted over a year ago

HAPPPPY RETIREMENT TO YOU KRISTY!!!! Thank you so much for always being so loving, caring, giving and making a difference to everyone around you. You have inspired and made such an impact on so many of our students and staff. We will certainly miss you in our Language department, our chats, laughs and your wealth of knowledge. Thank you for being so supportive to everyone around you but also to me personally during my most difficult times. You WILL be missed! Enjoy your time off!

Elise Solomon Posted over a year ago

Wishing you the best on your new journey. You have done a wonderful job as our health representative at OH. You have not only impacted so many students, but teachers and staff as well. Enjoy this time of your life. It is well deserved!

Christopher McKnight Posted over a year ago

This teacher is a game-changer, to put it simply. She was the reliable one that would take on responsibilities because it had and should be done. More than that, Kristy was doing these things out of a deep set of values and a passion for giving. It was her giving back and giving out to help all in big or small ways. She was there with a handout and a hand up to get you moving in the right direction. For instance, in a crowded school with no planning areas for some teachers, Kristy found a room, got a grant, and literally created a RELAXATION ROOM for people to quietly relax, work, or sit for a moment in a peaceful spot. That was a problem solved by her attention and giving nature. It was being the decade long Insurance/Health coordinator at our school (and was awarded best in the county for her work); she did it because it had an impact and helped her workmates do better and be better for themselves and their school. She could answer any question about healthcare and insurance options as well as point you in the right direction for more help. Is that it? NO, in our English Department, where I have taught for 26 years, she was the Madonna of the 12th grade helping kids to realistically pass and prepare for Junior College and the county college systems. With her wealth of experience (as she came from middle school, she had that Momma Bear attitude and loving caring heart as well), she reached out to help new teachers with materials, plans, items and small "Welcoming Gifts" and wisdom in being a great teacher and problem solver. Because of her dedication and interest in improving her curriculum, she went out and got to know people in the local colleges and got their curriculum expectations so that her 12th graders could learn it and be prepared. She could bring that back to help students and teachers alike with their mission. That makes her the go-getter that creates a real impact with positive results. I recall seeing her call parents to say how well kids were doing as positive phone calls home were a rare thing. On the other end, I recall her in the midst of the chaos of exam week calling parents to urge their kids to come BACK to school and retry the exam they failed or come do some makeup work to push a 58% or a 79% up to the next grade level. Yes, it was her caring, giving soul that got you. The thing that our department will uniformly say as an example of that giving soul is her passion for people, especially keeping her fellow English teachers going with little gifts. One way she did this was her role as our Birthday Fairey; she would hand out an information sheet on who you were, your birthday, and interesting things about you as well as your favorites - like in dessert foods. Sounds nice, you say, but what about it? She took that list of 20+ teachers and would MAKE a personalized BIRTHDAY BASKET every year for each English teacher. A cupcake of your wishes, a basket of goodies, and even a personalized original poem in a card written by her just for you. She celebrated teaching and life by giving out and giving back for all she had gotten. That care, passion, and selflessness are not easily found or developed in a person without the right mentor. Kristy showed us all by experience that giving is a joy, and teaching is a gift to an individual and to the world. Kristy led by example and helped to create an environment of giving and helping. That is why she is a LIFE-Changer. Students, teachers, and administrators respected and appreciated her work because she was great at it She is more than being just effective. For Kristy, it was her lifelong passion to change peolpes' lives for the better.

Kelly Burke Posted over a year ago

Kristy, You have impacted thousands of kids throughout your teaching career. You will be truly missed by Olympic Heights High School and the entire Palm Beach County School District. With your dedication and passion, we have been able to consistently maintain a 99% graduation rate over the last few years. You were truly a LIFE CHANGER to so many seniors over the years!