Valerie Gates is an ELD and AVID teacher, Department Chair, and ELL coordinator at West High School, a large urban high school in Salt Lake City. She has been teaching for 34 years and has taught at West for 13 years. Valerie earned a B.Ed. from McGill University, and an M.Ed. from Penn State. Valerie was named the 2016 Kiwanis Educator of the Year for Salt Lake City. She is the 2017 Salt Lake City District Teacher of the Year, and the 2017 Utah Teacher of the Year. Valerie teaches, advocates for, and develops close relationships with her refugee and immigrant students and their families.
