Miami-Dade County Public Schools
In 1981, Bergman began a teaching career with Miami-Dade County Public Schools. In 1982 at Fienberg-Fisher Adult and Community Education Center, he taught ESOL (English as a second language) to recent Cuban refugees from the Mariel boatlift. In association with the Golden Door Project, Mariel refugees received 25 hours a week of English classes (5 hours a day) and help in receiving housing, food, and employment. The average ESOL class consisted of 100 students from ages 16–90 with a 98% graduation rate.
Bergman became his school's ESOL Department Chairperson for a record eleven straight years. He was the Teacher of The Year at his school in 1995. In 2009 Bergman was one of nine finalists for the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, 2008-2009 Elayne Weisburd Excellence in Education Award.
Besides ESOL, Bergman also taught GED, Pre-GED, Citizenship, Vocational Education, and ESOL Computer Lab courses.
His adult education students were from Asia, Africa, Canada, Central America, Europe, The Middle-East, and South America. He taught an average of 9 classes a year for 30 years. Student populations in these adult classes ranged from 30-100 students. Over 15,000 adult education students graduated from Bergman's classes.
Read more about this topic: Sherman Bergman
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