Salem Educators Honored At State Of Latino Education Conference

SALEM, MA — Two Salem teachers were honored as Exceptional Latino Educators, while Superintendent Steve Zrike was presented with the La Lucha Award, at the Latinos For Education 2023 State of Latino Education conference on Wednesday.

Janet Garcia and Odilia Smith were two of 26 teachers honored statewide for being outstanding proponents of dual language classrooms.

The La Lucha Award went to Zrike as an "exceptional school administrator who demonstrates a consistent commitment to educational equity."

Garcia teaches kindergarten in the dual language program launched at the Bentley Academy Innovation School in 2019. She taught in person during the earlier days of the COVID-19 health crisis in the district's attempts to educate its youngest students.

She was born and raised in Salem and graduated from Salem High School in 2011. She is also an alumna of Salem State University.

"There are so many (educators) in this district, so it's really nice to be acknowledged, especially in this program," she said. "Teaching is something I always wanted to do. I always wanted to give back, and Salem (Public Schools) was always a place I wanted to work.”

Smith has been a Spanish educator at the Collins Middle School for 27 years and commutes to the city from Boston each day via two trains and two buses.

"This is not just for myself, it is for many people in this district," she said of her award. "It is the culmination of a lot of people who helped me grow, who mentored me in so many ways. It is something that is more for Collins Middle School than for me."

Zrike came to Salem Public Schools from Holyoke in 2020 — shortly before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic — and agreed to a five-year contract extension last August.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)