The Oregon Migrant Education Program named a long-time Ontario School District educator as its Teacher of the Year.
At the state migrant program’s annual conference in Salem on Friday, Oct. 4, officials honored Emiliano Beagarie, a language development coach and summer school instructor.
Beagarie has been with Ontario School District since 2000 and has been a teacher for 30 years. He has impacted thousands of students over the years, according to the nomination form submitted by Anabel Ortiz-Chavolla, the district’s federal programs director.
For nearly a decade Beagarie has been the district’s language development coach. Meantime, he has taught summer classes for over 20 years without fail for the district’s migrant program.
He was cited for consistent service to students over the years, including through a migrant student leadership academy, chaperoning trips to Washington and helping students tell their stories through writing when teaching high school English during the summer.
“I didn’t realize I had done that much,” he said.
Chavolla said Beagarie, the son of migrants, “understands the challenges our families face and works toward removing barriers.”
She said over the years in Ontario, Beagarie has been a part of educating “thousands” of migrant students.
Along with teaching summer classes for over 20 years, Beagarie has taught at the Academy of Young Ambassadors, a two-week summer leadership course for middle schoolers, according to Ortiz-Chavolla. The program focuses on literacy, communication and building interpersonal skills, she said.
Beagarie said he makes himself available to teach each summer classes because students need academic support during those months. He said they also need to stay engaged in school.
“Mr. Beagarie is our “go to guy” when we are in need of a role model and mentor that can truly connect with students,” Ortiz-Chavolla said.
He said there have been times when the district has had to get teachers from Fruitland or other areas. Beagarie said that educators need to depend on one another to help students.
“In our business, you got to be able to count on people,” he said.
Beagarie, who earned a degree in curriculum instruction from Boise State University, said his mother inspired him to become a teacher. He wrote about his mother’s influence in a 2009 book, “Teaching Hope,” part of a Freedom Writers for Teachers project. Beagarie’s story about his first day of kindergarten was among those chosen for the book.
Beagarie said he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as a child. On his first day of kindergarten, the school told his mother that he was too hyper for the class and needed to “learn English.” He said his mother made a deal with the teachers that she would come to the school with Beagarie daily for him to stay in the class.
Later, she became a teacher’s aide and earned a degree from Boise State, where she later became a Spanish teacher, according to Beagarie.
He said his mother always wanted to teach but did not come to the U.S. until she was 20 and had to learn English before going to college.
Watching his mother achieve her educational goals inspired him and made him think that he could achieve similar goals.
“She did everything she could to get me through school,” Beagarie said.
Beagarie said in an interview that he, his sister, and his mother received their degrees together in 1995.
Beagarie said his sister and brother-in-law are also both in education.
He said he still shares his story with students because many think teachers started as straight-A students. That’s not always the case, he said. At least not for him.
It took time for him to become a good student, he said. Which, he said, is his story and, “everybody’s got a story.”
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