An English teacher, an instructor in the Center for the Teaching Profession magnet program, and the Key Club advisor, Ms. Zamora is a very busy person. Her fellow teachers have noticed her efforts; she was nominated as Miami High’s ROOKIE TEACHER OF THE YEAR.

It all started with a last-minute write-in nomination by tenth grade English teacher Ms. Aurora Couzo at a faculty meeting in October where her teacher colleagues gave her their votes. “I felt very surprised, humbled, and honored,” said Ms. Zamora. “I have put a lot of work into my career, but I do not do my job to be recognized. I do it for my students. I want to see them succeed.”

Susana Fabiola Zamora was born on June 13^th in La Habana, Cuba, to Miami High’s eleventh grade English teacher Ms. Fabiola Caldevilla.  She grew up in the hallways and classroom of Miami High.

Many people suspect that her mom influenced her to become a teacher. Not true. “I have always wanted to become a teacher,” she said, “and my mother actually discouraged me from that.”

Ms. Zamora attended Coral Way Elementary for her primary years and then went to be part of the drama magnet program at South Miami Middle School. She graduated from International Studies Charter High School (ISCHS) where she was at the top of her class of 37 seniors.

She was very involved in the Student Government Association (SGA) in high school as she was elected as Secretary her junior year and became Vice President her senior year. Besides SGA, she was the chairperson of the Senior Activities board, planning every single senior activity.

For college, she attended Florida International University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in English. At F.I.U., Ms. Zamora was not as busy as she was in high school because she noticed that she had to take a break from all the extra-curricular activities and focus on her studies.
Ms. Zamora teaches English 2 regular and honors, along with Speech 1, a required class for students in the Center for the Teaching Profession magnet. She says that there are many great things about becoming a teacher. For example, one day she left for home joyful after telling English teachers Ms. Berrios and Ms. Fernandini that her inclusion students participated in a class debate that led them to write their refutations independently.

“When you see students struggling, and after so much effort, they understand a lesson, that makes me feel awesome about my instruction,” she said. “On a personal level, there are kids that trust me and talk to me. That is gratifying on a whole other level.”

In the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year, Ms. Zamora became the Key service club advisor where her role is to oversee all the meetings and school-sponsored activities and attend as many community service opportunities as possible.

“Being an advisor has taught me about collaboration and patience,” she said. Something she has taught her officers this year has been communication because it is critical to the success of any club.

Like most club advisors, Ms. Zamora goes above and beyond what’s expected of her. She often stays late after school, she supervised all the dance rehearsals for Key’s performance in the homecoming parade, she has attended community service activities on Saturday such as the Burger King 5K run which required her to be there at 5:00 a.m.

Hobbies are not Ms. Zamora’s thing, but reading is. “Reading is the best escape to anything,” she said. Travel is also one of her favorite things to do. In the summer of 2015, she and her mom flew across the Atlantic to Europe and visited Italy, Switzerland, France, and London. Moreover, in the winter of 2015, she and her best friend visited Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

In five years, Ms. Zamora sees herself going back to graduate school and obtaining her master’s or specialist’s in Curriculum and Instruction. She wants to take that route in order to teach other teachers.