To her second grade students at North Beach Elementary School, Melissa Abril-Dotel was already the best teacher. But now it鈥檚 official 鈥� she is Miami-Dade County Public Schools鈥� Teacher of the Year.
Speaking to reporters after the announcement was made Tuesday evening, Abril-Dotel, who is known simply as Ms. Dotel to her students, said she couldn鈥檛 wait to share the news with her 24 students.
鈥淥h my goodness. I know there鈥檚 going to be screams and they鈥檙e going to come to give me a big hug! It鈥檚 going to be a lot for us,鈥� she said with a laugh.
鈥淩ight now I鈥檓 on a cloud. I鈥檓 so happy!鈥�
Dotel has been in the classroom for 18 years and says she was inspired to go into the profession by her childhood teachers. Their empathy, love and care after her mother died when she was a young girl.
Their influence inspires her to this day.
鈥淲hen we return to our schools tomorrow morning, let鈥檚 remember to see our students as whole and complete 鈥� as people filled with potential, personal dreams and meaningful stories,鈥� Dotel said in a speech at the awards ceremony.
READ MORE: Meet the nominees to be Miami-Dade鈥檚 Teacher of the Year for 2025
In her nearly two decades of teaching, Dotel has worked to make sure her students feel seen, heard and celebrated. Now she gets to share that philosophy across the district.
鈥淲hat we do is critical. What we do is important. What we do transforms lives,鈥� she said.
Abril-Dotel husband Oscar and her daughter Chloe 鈥� as well as Dotel鈥檚 large extended family and two of her students 鈥� cheered her on at the banquet Tuesday night.
More than 1,000 teachers, students, district officials and family members gathered to celebrate the finalists for the district鈥檚 Teacher of the Year and Rookie Teacher of the Year 鈥� Juan Gabriel Martin, who's a music teacher at Citrus Grove K-8 Center.
Along with the title, Dotel got a cash award of $3,500 鈥� and the keys to a new Toyota Corolla.
Now she鈥檒l go on to compete to be Florida鈥檚 Teacher of the Year.
WLRN's education reporter Kate Payne recently spent a morning at North Beach Elementary with Dotel last week and saw firsthand why she is beloved by her students and colleagues.
Watching Melissa Abril-Dotel at work is like watching a master conductor 鈥� when everyone in the orchestra knows their part.
鈥淥k good morning boys and girls!鈥� Dotel greeted her second graders on a recent morning.
鈥淕ood morning Ms. Dotel!鈥� they replied.
鈥淩eady to listen?鈥� she asked.
鈥淩eady to learn!鈥� the class cried.
鈥淩eady to Listen, Ready to Learn鈥� is one of the mantras in Dotel's classroom. She鈥檚 been teaching for 18 years and says that she and her students kind of have their own language 鈥� complete with little catchphrases and hand signals.
鈥淲e have chants in our class to get them back on track. We have sign language, so they feel that they're seen and heard,鈥� she explained. 鈥淏ecause a lot of times just waiting to raise their hand, they don't get as many chances to verbalize what they want to say. So they say it through our signs! Which is 鈥� I agree, yes, no, listen.鈥�
Sitting in on Dotel鈥檚 class on a recent morning, I could see the sign language rippling through the class, as kids quietly flashed their hand signals, showing they were listening and ready to jump in.
Dotel and her students picked up a lesson on conflict resolution right where they had left off the day before.
鈥淐an someone remind us, what is a conflict? Pierce?鈥� she asked.鈥淚t's a problem,鈥� a student named Pierce replied.
鈥淚t's a problem that you're facing,鈥� Dotel said. 鈥淛J, do you want to add to that?鈥�
鈥淟ike a problem that you run into?鈥� JJ said.
鈥淵eah. Something that you run into, that you don't really like,鈥� Dotel said. 鈥淎nd then we talked about resolution. And some of you guys told me what you feel about resolution. Spencer?鈥�
鈥淩esolutions are 鈥� it's basically 鈥� it鈥檚 like a solution to your problem,鈥� Spencer said.
Throughout the morning, Dotel was weaving in lessons on relationship building and emotional intelligence 鈥� even while the kids were playing musical chairs.
When the music stopped, the students sat down at whatever desk was closest. On the desks, they found sheets of paper where their classmates had written about conflicts they鈥檙e facing in their own lives 鈥攍ike being left out at recess or dealing with an annoying brother.
鈥淥k! Read that problem that one of your friends is going through!鈥� Dotel said.
The students鈥� task was to write down some advice about how to respond. For example, a kid who got into a shoving match on the playground should say sorry and talk it out.
鈥淚 believe in relationship-centered classrooms. So the first thing I do is I try to get to know my students. I want them to build bonds within each other. I want them to get to know their teacher,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd trust is a big thing. Being vulnerable with one another. And we learn from there.鈥�
