Breast cancer patient wins Miami-Dade’s Teacher of the Year award

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Teresa Ellen Murphy, a breast cancer patient, won the Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ 2022 Francisco R. Walker Teacher of the Year Award.

Murphy is a third-grade teacher at Spanish Lake Elementary in Hialeah. To continue teaching during chemotherapy, the 27-year veteran created a daily chart to help parents monitor their progress.

Murphy is known to involve her students in community service projects such as collecting toys for homeless children. After she suffered a stroke in 2012, she taught her kids about stroke prevention.

In a statement, Miami-Dade public schools reported she has taught her students about “the power of determination, positivity, and perseverance.”


About the Author:

Janine Stanwood joined Local 10 News in February 2004 as an assignment editor. She is now a general assignment reporter. Before moving to South Florida from her Washington home, Janine was the senior legislative correspondent for a United States senator on Capitol Hill.