Middle school teacher in Phoenix awarded Silver Apple for strong bond, mentorship with students
Silver Apple is sponsored by Arizona Bank & Trust
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — When it comes to teaching, it’s not always about what you teach but how you connect with your students and mentor them. For seventh-grade teacher Jose Amaro, the connection to his students is just as important as the curriculum!
“Sometimes when I’m having a bad day, he helps me and says it’s going to be okay,” seventh grader Audree Dumas said.
Dumas nominated Mr. Amaro for the Silver Apple Qward. He’s been a Valley teacher for over a decade and currently teaches Social Studies at Palo Verde Middle School in Phoenix.
Arizona’s Family, along with our sponsor, Arizona Bank and Trust, visited Mr. Amaro to surprise him with the award.
“I love the content and everything, but the reason why I do it is, because this is where I grew up about a block away from here,” Mr. Amaro said.
It’s clear these students have a special bond with their all-star teacher, who always goes above and beyond to ensure they feel seen and heard.
“He’s one of a kind,” Dumas said as she held back tears when Arizona’s Family visited Mr. Amaro’s classroom to surprise him.
He’s also a dad to three young kids and has coached sports teams at the school as well.
“I always knew that’s what I wanted to do, come here and affect people similar to the way I grew up,” Mr. Amaro said.
The seventh graders at Palo Verde Middle School students are lucky to learn from one of the best and lucky to be surrounded by such a great role model who truly cares!
“It’s a daily relationship thing,” Mr. Amaro said. “It really means a lot, and when I look around, not that I’m trying to discount what my coworkers do, but when it comes to this, relationships and making kids feel they have a place to go and feel safe and they can talk to someone, I can’t really think of someone who can do it better than I feel like I can do it,” Mr. Amaro said.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Copyright 2024 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.
