Florida teacher Lizbet Martinez fled the repressive Castro regime and came to the United States on a raft when she was just a child. Photo credit: The Buffalo News

Many dedicated educators can share a personal history of overcoming great adversity. One of these is Lizbet Martinez, an elementary school teacher who, when she was just a child, fled the repressive Castro regime on a raft to immigrate to the United States.

Lizbet was only 12 years old when she braved the dangers of the sea on nothing more than a raft to flee to this country from her home island of Cuba. She was one of more than 30,000 Cubans who made this treacherous journey during what is known as the “balsero crisis” of 1994. Lizbet and her family were plucked from the waters by the US Coast Guard on Aug. 21, 1994. At the time, the child was clutching a violin case, which the Americans discussed confiscating because they believed the case might contain a weapon. To prove them wrong, Lizbet opened the case, pulled out her violin, and began to play The Star Spangled Banner. Before the family fled the Castro regime in Cuba, she was studying violin at Alejandro Garcia Caturla Conservatory in Havana.  After their rescue, the Martinez family and other refugees spent five months at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base before being relocated to Miami.

When she grew up, Lizbet enrolled at Florida International University in Miami. There she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education in 2003. Cuban-American singer Willy Chirino offered her with a $3,000 scholarship to help pay for her college expenses. At her college graduation, she was asked to perform the National Anthem to open the school’s commencement ceremonies. Later, Lizbet performed with music stars Gloria Estefan and Jon Secada. She also performed for presidents Bill Clinton and George H. Bush.

Once she earned her degree, the aspiring teacher completed her student teaching assignment at Emerson Elementary School in Westchester, Florida, and at Coral Reef High School in Miami. At the grade school, she taught basic music skills. At the high school, a magnet school for teenagers interested in music, she conducted the string orchestra.

Lizbet currently teaches at M.A. Milam K-8 Center, where she taught music until budget cuts cancelled the school’s music program. She now instructs courses in English.

To read more about this remarkable educator, see this story published about her by The Buffalo News.