Cultural Educator of the Year
Marcela Uribe - Ga. Outstanding Cultural Educator
“VIF has made this quest easy and rewarding, as I give my best as a teacher and cultural ambassador and learn along the way. When students come to my classroom to look at the world map, locating countries and asking questions, it is incredibly rewarding. My students in the future will get the most of my experience here, as I have worked for amazing schools, made great friends and learned a lot.”

Marcela Uribe Restrepo • ColombiaMarcela is from Colombia.
Georgia Oustanding Cultural Educator

Art teacher
Evoline C. West Elementary ▪ Fulton County Public Schools, Georgia

As the art teacher for 400 students at Evoline C. West Elementary School, Marcela Uribe integrates a variety of different world cultures into creative and inspiring art lessons, piquing her young students’ curiosity and desire to learn more about the world. She integrates history, technology and math, among other subjects, into her art curriculum, helping students learn the ways that the world is connected.

Uribe decorated her classroom with pictures and objects from her homeland, using Columbian items and Spanish words to illustrate common art terms. For the term “architecture,” she posted a picture of a house in Cartagena; for “painting,” she hung a picture by Colombian artist Fernando Botero; for “drawing,” a pencil sketch by another Colombian artist. She has illustrated “pottery” with a picture of a Quimbaya piece, a “mask” with one similar to those worn in the Carnaval de Barranquilla, and “photography” with a photo of Ave del Paraiso, a special flower that grows in the mountains where Colombians plant coffee. For “sculpture,” she displayed a hanger sculpture by her students’ favorite Colombian artist – Uribe herself!

Assistant Principal Catherine D. Smith, Evoline C. West Elementary:

“Marcela Uribe is a creative, innovative and self-motivated educator who excels in all areas of teaching. She has a contagious positive attitude, a kind spirit and a genuine love of children. She embodies the role of ‘cultural ambassador,’ while integrating into the American system flawlessly.”