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2006 Juvenile Justice Teacher of the Year – Statewide winner

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2006 Juvenile Justice Teacher of the Year - Statewide winner

Toni Bevino

Tony Bevino

Bevino was presented a plaque from the Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement Program (JJEEP) and a $1,000 check from the Florida Department of Education (DOE) at the annual Juvenile Justice Education Institute (JJEI) and Southern Conference on Corrections in July 2007.

I was born in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, in 1966 and have since been a life-long resident of the state. After receiving a degree in anthropology, I began working as a field/lab technician for a local archaeological firm. Having always been drawn to the subject of people, and coming from a family of educators, the calling to teach was inevitable.

My classroom is designed with the hope that all students will experience an environment of respect and comfort so that the learning process will be optimal. I want my students to feel the support that is necessary for them to take risks, make mistakes, and ultimately succeed. The responsibility of a classroom teacher is a great one, and I am proud to be in a position to serve.

As a teacher, I consider myself a life-long learner. In this way, I am constantly looking through my student's eyes and focusing on how they, and I, learn. I believe, based both on my experience and the educational research that I've studied, that learning, like basic human development, is a mix of natural and environmental influences. That is, we learn not only from interacting with our environment, but also through understanding our individual abilities and strengths.

As a teacher, I also believe that it is my responsibility to integrate these internal and external factors in ways that best benefit my students. Whether this means sparking and motivating the intelligence of a student with low self-esteem or teaching learning strategies to less experienced students so that they can become their own instructors, it is my hope that these students eventually see that, although mastery may be the ultimate goal, progress is the measure of success.

It is important my students know their success is my success. What's more, I want my students to know that I respect them as individuals and that I do not consider them criminals. Their punishment is being locked up; conversely, it is my responsibility to educate them, not judge them.