Special to the Lake Okeechobee News Teacher Linda Baker received numerous educator awards over her time in Okeechobee. OKEECHOBEE — A shocking loss to all those who knew her, Linda Miller-Baker …
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OKEECHOBEE — A shocking loss to all those who knew her, Linda Miller-Baker unexpectedly passed away on Friday, May 29. She was an Ocala native and moved here in 2012.
A graduate of the University of Florida, Ms. Baker also had advanced degrees and certifications from Nova University, Florida Atlantic University and the University of South Carolina. She taught reading and English at the Okeechobee Youth Development Center School from 2014 to 2020, focusing on enhancing student academic skills in reading and writing. She was educational director of the Douglas Brown Tutorial Achievement (DBT) Project from 2016 to 2020. This after-school and summer program focused on student support for Reading and Math Recovery.
Ms. Baker received numerous educator awards over her time in Okeechobee. She was honored as the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Teacher of the Year in 2016 for the State of Florida. Linda also decided to run for a seat on the Okeechobee School Board in the fall of 2018. In 2019 she was a recipient of the Florida Excellence in Education award from Gov. Ron DeSantis and was also nominated for The FCSW Spirit of the Community award. She created the Heritage Educational Services LLC and received support for the DBT program from the Okeechobee Children Services and the Okeechobee School Board.
Ms. Baker, guiding the children in the DBT program, organized Christmas parade floats, participated in the Martin Luther King Jr. Day parades, organized back-to-school fashion shows and sponsored DBT food banks from 2016 through 2019. Her efforts through the DBT have been recognized by the Okeechobee school board as helping the student participants to increase FSA scores. She focused on helping the girls (as well as the boys) in the community and in the DBT program to enhance their social-emotional skills and confidence through encouragement and modeling behavior.
Tireless and dedicated in her efforts to communicate with others in the community (parents, churches, the school district and other organizations) Ms. Baker stressed the need for these programs for the area children. She moved forward with determination and high spirits, not allowing roadblocks along the way to demoralize her. She was a woman with a vision to help her students at the Okeechobee Youth Development School and the children of the community and went above and beyond in her commitment of time and energy.
Ms. Baker repeatedly demonstrated her commitment to helping children expand their knowledge and learning as well social, interpersonal skills. She will be missed dearly by her family, her church family from New St. Stephen’s Methodist Church, colleagues and co-workers, those who assisted her in the many projects and community efforts, and most importantly, by the many children whose lives she positively impacted by her dedication to their intellectual and personal growth.
A candlelight vigil to celebrate her life will be held on Wednesday, June 10, at 6 p.m. at Bethel Baptist Church, the place of her dearly beloved DBT tutoring program. Arrangements or condolences can be sent to Clark Funeral Home, 434 N.W. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. in Ocala.