Clearwater Adult Education Center

It is an honor and privilege to recognize Mrs. Yllka Bejo as Clearwater Adult Education Center’s 2019 Teacher of the Year and our candidate for Pinellas County School’s Teacher of the Year. 

Yllka was chosen for this honor because she embodies the qualities educational leaders and students look for in a teacher.  She is genuine, kind, knowledgeable of her subject matter, dedicated to her students, hardworking and truly cares about her colleagues and our profession. 

After speaking with Yllka and listening to her life story, it is easy to understand why teaching is much more than just a vocation for her.  Her passion to teach ESOL students comes from her firsthand experiences as a first-generation immigrant to The United States of America.  Yllka knows the struggles ESOL students encounter every day and while being empathetic to their plight she also recognizes the importance of holding them accountable to learn the skills necessary in order for them to achieve both academic and personnel success. 

Mrs. Bejo provides each one of her students with an individual education plan in order to improve their academic experience.  She monitors each student’s progress throughout their academic program and makes the necessary modifications to meet their individual goals.  Yllka’s dedication and commitment to her vocation has helped many of our students accomplish their goal and has led to an overall increase in our ESOL Program #51 (transition course) of over 1,275% (one thousand, two hundred and seventy five percent) compared to the last two years.

Yllka is a leader among her peers.  As an ESOL Lead Teacher, her leadership role includes being actively involved at the school, district and state level.  She is an active member of CAEC’s SAC, SIP, ESOL PLC and ACE statewide conferences.