SARASOTA - Victor Fernandez, a music teacher and orchestra director at Booker Middle School in Sarasota, was named the Teacher of the Year for the Sarasota County School District in an evening ceremony held Jan. 26.

Teachers, administrators, school board members, sponsors and guests gathered at the Hyatt Regency Sarasota to celebrate the naming of the district winner from among three finalists and to honor candidates from schools throughout the county. A partnership between the Education Foundation of Sarasota County and the Sarasota County School District produces the annual event.

"As an immigrant to this great country, with English as my second language, it is so very humbling for me to be standing here speaking to all of you," Fernandez, a native of Cuba, told the audience after being named the district's Teacher of the Year. "The scope of our jobs, in my view, lies far beyond scores and statistics, as every child we teach has, in essence, unlimited potential for greatness, success, happiness and joy. If we could impact every child in the world today in this way, it is beautiful to think of the world we would all share tomorrow."

Fernandez will represent the school district at the Florida Department of Education-Macy's Teacher of the Year gala and serve as the community spokesperson for the teaching profession throughout the 2012-2013 academic year. He was selected from three finalists, who also included Jessica Gardner of Gocio Elementary School and Danielle Fisher Tanaka of Venice High School.

Fernandez began teaching at Booker Middle in August 2010, after teaching middle and high school in Tallahassee for three years. He also conducts the Sarasota Youth Orchestra and has conducted the Tallahassee Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Wiregrass Youth Symphony Orchestra in Dothan, Ala.

"Victor inspires students with a sense of purpose as he helps them build the skills, attitudes, habits and the behaviors they need to be successful," Booker Middle School Interim Principal LaShawn Houston said. "He takes students on a journey that allows them to experience music on a deeper level, teaching music by using reading, writing and math in the classroom."

Fernandez said, "I approach teaching and music as I approach life. As I explain to my students, 'the more you put into anything, the more you get out of it.' It works in music and it works in life. As I think of my students becoming adults and creating the rest of their lives, I aim to teach 'beyond the notes,' and that truly shapes the way I teach music."

In addition to his work with the Booker Middle School Orchestra and the Sarasota Youth Orchestra, Fernandez also volunteers his time to teach musical skills to students at Gocio Elementary. He earned a master's degree in Music Education and bachelor's degrees in Music Education and Music Performance from Florida State University.

The Sarasota County Teacher of the Year program is made possible through the funding and support of community partners. This year's Presenting Sponsor is Verizon. Premier Sponsors include Nova Southeastern University, Publix Super Markets Charities and Sunset Chevrolet Buick GMC. Gold Sponsors are the Notre Dame Club of Greater Sarasota, Prudential Retirement, Sarasota County School-Based Administrators Association (SBA) and VALIC. Sarasota County School District Administrators (SDA) and Herff Jones-Steve Kline are Silver Sponsors.

The overall Teacher of the Year will attend the Excellence in Teaching Conference at the University of Notre Dame, all expenses paid, courtesy of the Notre Dame Club of Greater Sarasota. The individual selected as the district's top Teacher of the Year also receives a 2012 Chevy Cruze to use for the year from Sunset Chevrolet Buick GMC. All 42 individual schools' Teachers of the Year receive a variety of gifts, including a quality professional portrait by Prestige Portraits by Lifetouch.