Tampa, Florida - Imagine going to a new school in a new country and having to learn a new language. Now imagine being the person who has to teach those students who don't know a word of English how to communicate. Our Tuesday's Teacher of the Week does just that.
Her name is Cynthia Damaso and she's at Lowry Park Elementary School. Her students come from all parts of the globe, but they all love learning.
After 38 successful years, Damaso will dismiss her class one final time. But ever the teacher, she has one more lesson she hopes we all learn, "We have to work a lot of years in our lives so it has to be something you love. I would hate to come to work everyday and hate it and I just love it."
Cynthia Damaso says she has always known her purpose was to teach, "I said I knew since I was little I played school I never deviated and I am glad I didn't."
For the past few years at Lowry Elementary, Damaso has taught ELL or English Language Learners. Her classroom is like a mini United Nations. She has students who speak 17 different languages, but her job is to get them to speak just one, "We have children from South Africa, from Russia from Hungary. From all the Latin Central American countries from South America."
But her lessons don't end in the classroom. Often she spends time with the students' families helping them adjust to a new world.
Ginger Gadsden and Angie Shannon, Tampa Bay's 10 News