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Student Announcers: Welcome to Mondays with Maria. 

Announcer: Presented by Addition Financial Credit Union. Here's OCPS Superintendent Dr. Maria Vazquez.

Dr. Vazquez: Hi everyone. This is such an exciting show. I have all five of our Stellar award winners here. Today, I am proud to introduce our 2026 Teacher of the Year, Alexandra Figueroa from Village Park Elementary, Gabriela Cardani, our Support Person of the Year from Water Spring Elementary, our Principal of the Year, Amy Klaber from Bridgewater Middle School, our Assistant Principal of the Year, Rebecca Young from Metro West Elementary, and our District Administrator of the Year, Kim Gilbert from Federal Programs. Congratulations to all of you. You are so deserving of this honor. And from all of us in OCPS, we want to say thank you for all that you do each and every day for our children for our employees, and for our families. So, you were selected from hundreds of honorees we celebrated at our Annual Stellar Awards event on January the 30th. It's really one of my favorite nights of the year. The best of the best come together in one gigantic room, and it's absolutely incredible. We want our families to get to know you a little bit. So, I'm going to start with our Teacher of the Year. Ms. Figueroa. You are a kindergarten teacher with 20 years of experience. What are you most proud of in the classroom?

Alexandra Figueroa: First of all, thank you so much for this invitation. It is truly an honor and blessing to be here. What I'm most proud of is the fact that OCPS allowed me to have that opportunity to show my kids a safe, a nurturing environment where they could learn, they could have fun and they could show the best that they have. For me, this opportunity is amazing, but I feel proud of that. We teach all the kids and they have that opportunity to strive for the best.

Dr. Vazquez: And I can attest that your classroom is lively and full of energy and enthusiasm. So now, Ms. Cardani, you are our Support Person of the Year and you are a peer professional at Water Spring. For those who may not know, what are your responsibilities as a paraprofessional?

Gabriela Cardani: I also want to thank you for this honor. And as a bilingual paraprofessional, I help the students who are learning the English language in many ways. It can be in the classroom for them to understand an assignment or instruction, helping them, acquiring the language, and as well as the families and helping them navigate the school system and the students in the school environment. So the language is not a barrier. So then we can build this bridge from the community in the school so they feel welcome and supported.

Dr. Vazquez: And you definitely have built relationships because when we went out to surprise you, you had families of children that are no, you're no longer working with, that you had in the past. And I could tell that they are so thankful for all that you did for them and their family. Alright, so Amy being a Principal is quite a challenging job. So tell us, what does it mean to you to represent OCPS with the designation of Principal of the Year?

Amy Klaber: It truly is an honor to be here. Thank you for having me. It's such an honor to be able to represent all the work that's done because it's never just me or me alone. I'm just the one who gets to bring the passion to the table. And I'm the facilitator of collaboration, so being able to put things into play to provide people that permission or opportunity to do the good work and to lift them up and support them is truly it's an honor. It's an honor to be recognized for that work.

Dr. Vazquez: And for me, it's been, it was one of the most fun jobs I had. Yes. I love it. You know, you really have your family there that you're helping to guide, and you can see the growth, how they've overcome challenges, and all the celebrations. So, Ms. Young, you are the Assistant Principal at Metro West. So, what's your favorite part about being an Assistant Principal? 

Rebecca Young: Thank you. I'm so thrilled to be here today with everybody. My favorite part of being an Assistant Principal is really being a part of this dynamic day that occurs every day. My role is that way by design, but I really embrace it. I love every day being different. I love being a part of really small things and really large things that go on in a school. I love interacting with staff in the schoolhouse and outside the schoolhouse at OCPS, and really sharing all that we're doing in our building. Share all the excitement that our students have, and get to see all that growth that happens with our students through decisions that I'm a part of.

Dr. Vazquez: And I think you alluded to this, but every day is something different. Yes. So you plan Yes. But being an Assistant Principal really provides that nuance. That comes with being in a school. So, thank you for all of your service. Kim, I've known you for many, many years, and you are our District Administrator of the year. You oversee all of the federal programs. And so, tell us what, what it is that you do in the Department of Federal Programs.

Kim Gilbert: Thank you so much. In federal programs, I have the honor of working with a fantastic team. We serve our students in poverty, our ESE students, our migrant students, our MVP, and our homeless students. We have the opportunity every single day to work with schools and district-based staff, making sure that we have funds available to provide educational supports for our students, to ensure that every student has the opportunity to succeed academically.

Dr. Vazquez: We certainly do have so many talented employees here in OCPS, and so congratulations to all of you. Thank you. And to all of the individuals whom you represent. We say thank you for what you do each and every day. I also want to thank our, our sponsors, especially our Galaxy sponsor, Orlando Health. You know that the event was spectacular. It's just, it was amazing. And that could not be possible without the work of our sponsors. So thank you so much for being here, and thank you for watching. Don't forget to like, follow, and subscribe. We will have more on our podcast. Just go to wherever you get your podcast and search for Mondays with Maria. Have a great week.

Announcer: For an extended conversation on today's topic. Listen to the Mondays with Maria podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts. Mondays with Maria is presented by Addition Financial Credit Union. Count us in for every step of your financial journey. Learn more at Additionfi.com. For more OCPS news and information, visit TheSlice.ocps.net. I'm your announcer, Emily Hannon, a student at Audubon Park School. Thanks for watching, and have a great week.