Ari Odzer is ten-time Emmy® award-winning journalist and is currently the NBC 6 education reporter. Odzer joined the station in January of 1990 as a general assignment reporter. In 1994, he briefly worked for sister station WNBC in New York and returned to WTVJ in 1995. Odzer joined WTVJ from WPEC-TV in West Palm Beach where he was an anchor and reporter for three years.
During his time at WTVJ, Odzer has covered all major hurricanes since Andrew in 1992. Some of the big stories he’s covered include: the Elian Gonzalez controversy, 2000 presidential elections recount, the murder of Gianni Versace and the manhunt for his murderer, Andrew Cunanan, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre, COVID-19 pandemic and the Surfside tragedy.
In 2014, Odzer established Education on 6 as a brand, with a focus on education features and issues. Throughout the pandemic, he covered all facets of distance learning, mask mandates, safety protocols, teacher and parent concerns, and learning deficits. Odzer says he finds education stories to be particularly rewarding, especially when highlighting the achievements of outstanding students.
Odzer, whose father was in the Air Force, was born in Izmir, Turkey. A self-proclaimed Air Force brat, his family finally settled in Pompano Beach when he was in the 5th grade.
Graduating from Deerfield Beach High School in 1982, Odzer received his Bachelor of Science in broadcast news with a minor in political science in 1987 from the University of Florida. He also began his broadcast career while in college, working as a reporter and anchor at WUFT-FM, in Gainesville. While in Gainesville, he also worked as a reporter and anchor at the CBS affiliate WRUF-AM and made the crossover into television by working as a reporter, anchor and photographer at the PBS affiliate WUFT-TV.
Today, Odzer lives with his wife, Dr. Shari-Lynn Odzer, in Northeast Miami-Dade County. He has two daughters, Jamie and Nicole, who are currently medical students and a son, Michael, who is currently entering his sophomore year of college. A high school basketball player, he still plays a weekly full court pickup game.
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The Latest
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A dreadful déjà vu for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School grads at FSU
Every time there’s a school shooting anywhere, it strikes a nerve in Parkland, and over the past 24 hours, the Florida State University students from the community are feeling a dreadful sense of déjà vu.
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Miami-Dade School Board unanimously approve mandatory heart screenings for student athletes
The board agreed and voted unanimously on Wednesday to require electrocardiogram screening for all high school athletes.
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FIU ‘Dreamer' worried about campus police partnering with ICE
On Tuesday, two separate demonstrations were held on campus against the university’s move, which allows campus police to be trained by ICE to interrogate and detain students suspected of being undocumented.
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Students and faculty protest after FIU signs cooperation agreement with ICE
A protest is expected to take place at Florida International University on Tuesday after campus police agreed to partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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Charges dropped against man who fatally shot another in Miramar Walgreens
It was a stunning event, a gunfight inside a Miramar Walgreens store in the middle of the day, and now, another stunning turn of events: the man charged with murder in that February shooting has been freed.
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State budget could cut funds supporting advanced high school courses
Educators are sounding the alarm about a proposed funding cut that could impact the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, Cambridge, and dual enrollment courses offered at public high schools throughout the state of Florida.
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Aventura Police using tech to thwart hate crimes during holy holidays
As Passover week approaches, a South Florida city with a large Jewish population is sending a message to would-be criminals: don’t try a hate crime here, because we are watching with the latest technology.
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Tariffs on China could mean disaster for bicycle shops
The Trump tariffs are like a stick in the spokes for the bicycle industry.
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After Belen student tragedy, what to know about sudden cardiac arrest among teens
The state of Florida only requires all high school athletes to undergo a regular physical exam, but underlying heart conditions can often go unnoticed.
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Florida Atlantic University's police is partnering with ICE
The Florida Atlantic University Police Department might be the first college campus police agency to partner with the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement division. FAU bills itself as the most ethnically and culturally diverse institution in the state’s university system. It serves more than 31,000 students on six campuses, including 2,500 foreign students who are here on…
