Many teachers come to Miami High every year. Miami High’s positivity, tradition, and spirit keep teachers working here for many years. This is why we still have teachers that have been teaching since the 1980s.

English teacher Ms. Catalina Perez and science teacher Mr. Peter Upperco started teaching at Miami High in the 80s, and both were supposed to retire last year, but they were invited by the principal to keep teaching for one more year.

“I wanted them to come back,” said principal Mr. Valdes, “because of their hard work throughout those years. The district approved my decision and let them come back for one more year.”

Ms. Catalina Perez came to Miami High in 1987, the same year when 9^th graders first started attending high school here. Throughout those years of teaching, she noticed that many things have changed at Miami High. She says that teaching was basic back in the day, but also challenging. This is because there wasn’t a lot of advanced technology that we have today that makes teaching easier.

The biggest change that happened during her teaching career at Miami High was the renovation that occurred back in 2010. She used to teach on the third floor of main building, and she really liked that classroom because of the large windows and space it provided. “I had many great memories there,” she said. After the renovation, she now teaches in building 3 instead of building 1.

Back then, there were different principals that ran the school, but it does not mean that the school was completely different. When Ms. Perez first came here, she met Mr. Diego Garcia, who was the principal at the time. This year, she is finishing her career with Mr. Valdes. “I have been blessed to teach all these years with the support of a great administration,” said Ms. Perez.

Her fondest memories concern the hard work and success she was able to give her students. She also appreciates the opportunity to teach at an amazing school. Ms. Perez had learned many things throughout her teaching career here: the students here are the absolute best to teach and the school is like a large family.

“No matter what obstacles come our way, we persevere,” she said. Finally, she learned that the faculty here is the very best. “Everyone has one goal: to help each and every student succeed in the future,” she said.

Mr. Upperco first started teaching at Miami High in August of 1980. Like Ms. Perez, he noticed many changes during his teaching career. For example, there weren’t any 9^th graders at the time when Mr. Upperco started to teach. Mr. Upperco also remembers that there were more service clubs back when he started teaching than there are today.

The amount of students that attend Miami High is also a major change. As the years went by, the school was getting older and the amount of students that attended Miami High started to increase, so they had to renovate the whole campus. The renovation was one of the biggest changes that happened to Miami High throughout his teaching career.

Like Ms. Perez, Mr. Upperco met Mr. Diego Garcia when he first came here. He says that Mr. Garcia was a fantastic principal because he showed him around the entire school and got him involved with sports. He was also a great principal because he tried to make Miami High one of the best schools possible. He really enjoyed his job as the principal of Miami High and was very involved with all teachers.

Like Ms. Perez, he learned many things throughout his teaching career at Miami High: that the students here at Miami High are the best, the tradition and spirit at Miami High are amazing, and many of the students who studied and graduated at Miami High teach here.

Like everyone else, he had to deal with stuff that he did not like. For instance, Mr. Upperco always hated when they moved him to a smaller classroom. He says that bigger classrooms give him better opportunities to teach and are more sociable than the smaller classrooms.

This year, both Ms. C Perez and Mr. P Upperco were supposed to retire. Next year, Mr. Upperco might have a chance of coming back for one more year, but the school still hasn’t confirmed if he is. If he doesn’t come back next year, he is planning to find a job at FIU or at a charter school.

Ms. Perez is going to stop teaching this year, but she still hasn’t decided any plans for next year. She is still thinking about it.