Spring Hill Elementary substitute teacher wins statewide honors for year's work

SPRING HILL — Ricky Yepez, 47, walked into a fifth-grade classroom as a substitute teacher in the middle of September, having never substitute taught. He ended up staying until the last day of the school year on June 3.His dedication did not go unnoticed. Yepez was recently recognized as the Kelly Educational Staffing 2015 Florida Substitute Teacher of the Year.Kelly Services Inc.'s educational staffing division can be found in nine Florida counties and 35 states. The Hernando County School District contracts with the company to recruit and place substitutes. Locally, the recruiting manager is Linda Nelson-Hermeneanu, who nominated Yepez."We never know how a substitute teacher is going to perform," she said. "He had never substituted before. He seemed to have the passion. We put him in a classroom, and he just escalated from there."Nelson-Hermeneanu said feedback from Yepez's school, Spring Hill Elementary School, was positive. The school's staff, she said, had "nothing but good things to say."Yepez earned his bachelor's degree in economics from Rutgers University. For years, he worked in finance and mortgages, even owning a mortgage company in Ohio for about seven years. That work ended when he began to care for his mother, living off investments, which he did for four years until he lost her a year ago.He realized he needed to return to the work world and saw the Kelly Services signs seeking substitute teachers."I've always had aspirations of becoming a teacher," he said. So he said to himself, "Maybe I'll try this and, if I like it, I'll go back to school and become a teacher."From there, he stepped into a Spring Hill Elementary fifth-grade classroom — replacing a teacher who switched schools to be closer to home and then a replacement teacher who did not work out — and stayed as a long-term substitute. He chose Spring Hill because his son, fourth-grader Bryce Yepez, 9, attends the school."It made it easier to substitute here," he said. "I was lucky they needed a sub."From the large pool of nominees for the Substitute of the Year honor, Yepez suggested, "I think I was chosen because the classroom I had was difficult in the beginning, and I was able to make an environment where the kids were able to enjoy learning."One way he brought behavior under control was by using a reward system. He provided treats — brownies, pizza or cookies — on Fridays for students who earned them. He also sometimes hosted a lunch bunch, eating outdoors instead of in the cafeteria."He handled our class very well," said Jeangelee Camacho, 11, "like some of the fights and issues between the boys and the girls.""No fights anymore," Yepez said."He got control of the classroom," said assistant principal Joyce Lewis. "I think he deserves (the recognition). He's flexible. He does whatever we ask of him. He's just really trying to pitch in."With better classroom control, more learning took place."He makes fun ways for us to learn," Jeangelee said. "It stays in our minds longer."Some of those "fun ways" included what he called anchor charts to help teach individual standards, and foldables, study papers with tabs attached that could be flipped up to confirm the answers. And the students loved the moon phases lesson that featured Oreo cookies.Yepez stressed how much he appreciated the assistance and support he received from fifth-grade team leader Heather Bass and math resource teacher Dawn Childers.Yepez's exceptionality as a substitute didn't begin and end in his classroom. He helped with fundraising for the fifth-grade dance and graduation, collecting about $300 from local businesses.There was an unfortunate glitch during the year that added to Yepez's challenges. It is impossible not to see the fairly fresh scar that runs almost from ear to ear across the top of his head. He fell during the time he was caring for his mother, and problems resulting from that forced him to see a doctor.Brain surgery kept him out of school for nearly two weeks."I was back the day after I got my staples out — 62 of them," he said.As Kelly's Substitute Teacher of the Year, Yepez received an extra $100 in his paycheck and a certificate. He also became eligible for national Substitute Teacher of the Year, which was won by a teacher in Indiana.Now that the school year is finished, Yepez has to decide what's next for him. He said he's thinking about becoming a teacher. He can take a test for a temporary teaching license to use while he goes to school to earn certification. Right now, though, he wants to take a vacation with Bryce."We'll see what next year brings," he said.

Spring Hill Elementary substitute teacher wins statewide honors for year's work

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