Ten years ago, ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) created the Outstanding Young Educator Award (OYEA) Program to recognize creative and committed teachers and administrators under the age of 40 who are making a difference in children’s lives.
Liliana Aguas, a 2nd grade dual-language immersion teacher at LeConte Elementary School was one of two winners selected from over 200 nominees.
Since 2002, the OYEA program has combed through thousands of applications to identify young educators who embody a whole child approach to education and are leaders in the classroom as well as in their communities.
Liliana Aguas is committed to educating the whole child by promoting a genuine sense of community where students learn cooperatively and are intellectually challenged through differentiated instruction. Her students participate in activities that promote self-discovery, such as creative writing, reader’s theater, and multicultural literature exploration.
Aguas creates classroom environments that promote students’ discovery of the surrounding culture; bilingualism; social justice; and natural environment, which they explore through a native plant garden and a tadpole and caterpillar habitat. Recently, Aguas held an international fair for her students and parents with poster presentations and a potluck, featuring dishes and music from the different countries that the students researched.
Parent partnerships are also a focus of Aguas’s teaching, and she hosts cafecitos, or coffee time, with her Spanish-speaking parents.
Watch the online video of Liliana’s recognition at the School Board meeting on March 28, 2012.