South Division High School counselor named one of five Wisconsin Teachers of the Year

A Milwaukee Public Schools' bilingual counselor has been named one of five Teachers of the Year by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Ana Báez, a bilingual school counselor at South Division High School, was surprised with the award during a May 9 assembly at the school. DPI state superintendent Jill Underly and Milwaukee Public Schools' superintendent Keith Posley were among those in attendance at the ceremony.

Of the state's five Wisconsin Teachers of the Year, one will be selected, after an interview process, as the state's representative to the Council of Chief State School Officers National Teacher of the Year program. The teacher selected for the national award is typically announced in late summer, according to DPI communications officer Chris Bucher.

The other Teachers of the Year Award winners are: Brian Counselman, a science teacher at Malcolm Shabazz City High School in the Madison Metropolitan School District; Bethany Counard, an eighth-grade English language arts teacher at West De Pere Middle School in the West De Pere School District; Rachel Sauvola, a career and technical education and agriculture teacher at New Richmond High School in the New Richmond School District, and Sarah Krajewski, an art teacher at Cambridge Elementary School in the Cambridge School District.

According to the DPI, Báez is the daughter of Puerto Rican immigrants, grew up in Milwaukee and graduated from Milwaukee Public Schools.

"At the state’s largest bilingual high school, Báez supports students in achieving their full potential through career and job preparation. Through her work at the school, Báez helps English language learning students identify and remove barriers from pursuing and achieving academic success," said a media advisory from the DPI. "Prior to working at MPS, Báez was a bilingual case manager, advocating for bilingual families so they could receive education on receiving healthcare services."

In an interview after the assembly, Báez described her surprise at receiving the award.

"I thought I was coming to congratulate one of my wonderful seniors, so I was nervous about the speech I was going to give for him," she said. "Then everyone started speaking, and I caught on. All of my colleagues were looking at me, and then I saw my family from the corner of my eye. I'm speechless. I wasn't expecting it."

She said the honor was humbling.

"I work every day not to be recognized. I work every day just to make a difference in these students' lives because I am the students. I was them. I am them. They are me, and I want them to succeed," Báez said.

Báez said her favorite part about her job is helping her students prepare for life after high school.

"Really seeing them develop from ninth-grade year all the way through senior year and seeing them cross that stage at the end, that's the moment that makes it all worth it for any educator, I would say. So it's a job that's really rewarding. It comes with a lot of emotions, but it's really rewarding," Báez said.

South Division High School principal Jose Trejo is proud of Báez.

"It's very exciting to have someone who was selected from across the state. So we're very thankful that she was selected. She couldn't have been a more deserving person. She's very deserving of the award for sure," Trejo said.

Trejo noted that Báez is committed to the students.

"She is always willing to do more. A lot of times I see her coming in early, and then she'll leave, 6, 7 at night because she's been working to get things done for students. Almost all the time she does more than what she's asked for, so she's always willing to put in the extra effort for kids," Trejo said.

Jesus Ruiz, a senior student at South Division High School, said Báez is willing to help everybody.

"She's the person I find most amazing and willing to help everybody. Even — I know she's just a counselor for freshmen — so even though she's just that, through my whole high school journey, she kept on helping me with letters of recommendation, scholarships, even homework sometimes. It's nice to see this recognition that she deserves," Ruiz said.

Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee high school counselor named Teacher of Year