Alumni Spotlight

Marie Garrido Zoeller's educational and professional path is an example of a passion to pursue and exemplify dedication to education and teaching. Marie graduated from Broward College in 1998 as a Presidents List honoree with her A.A. in Elementary Education. At BC, she says she discovered her tenacious love of learning. In fact, her connection with the College is part of a family tradition of deep engagement with BC: Her father is also an alumnus, Thomas Garrido, A.S. ’94, BAS ’05 , an instructor with the aviation program; her mother in law is a retired instructor in the Nursing program; and her nephew is a current student at BC. It’s truly a family affair! Marie has fond memories of BC and her teachers and says “My instructors were motivating and encouraging, especially Dr. Walker, my psychology instructor. His words of wisdom have stayed with me, and he is one of the reasons why I went into teaching.” After BC, Marie continued to Florida Atlantic University, where she excelled academically once again and graduated Magna Cum Laude with her B.A. in Elementary Education. Starting as a middle school teacher in 2000, as well as literacy coach, language arts, and reading teacher along the way, she earned her M.A. in Educational Leadership from the University of Florida in 2018 (with a 4.0 GPA!). In 2019, she took on the role of Curriculum Supervisor for Language Arts and Literacy for Broward County Schools. Marie currently is pursuing her doctoral degree from John Hopkins School of Education in Mind, Brain, and Teaching. “My research is on creating professional development and coaching programs to impact teacher self-efficacy of literacy instruction, which is teacher beliefs about their ability to impact the literacy skills of persistently struggling readers."