Sara Church |
Khamphet Pease |
Ken Herschman |
“The dedication of all our teachers to teach, to engage, to inspire and to care about our students amazes me,” said Supt. Cindy Marten. “Our three Teachers of the Year exemplify the remarkable work being done every day in classrooms across the district. I am proud to work with such committed individuals who have dedicated their professional lives to doing what’s best for children.”
Runners up for this year's honors are: Margarita Idos, grade one, Zamorano Fine Arts Academy; Dennis Gildehaus, grades 6 and 8, physical education, Pacific Beach Middle School; and Jaimee Rojas, grade 9, humanities, e3 Civic High. In addition to the winners and runners-up, Teachers of the Year from each school in the district are also scheduled to appear and be recognized by the Board of Education.
Sponsors of the event are the San Diego Padres Baseball Club, San Diego Gas and Electric Co., The Standard, California Schools VEBA, Mission Federal Credit Union, California Coast Credit Union, eLiveLife.com, San Diego Education Association, and ProFlowers.
Teacher of the Year candidates go through a rigorous selection process, first being selected by the staff members at their school, then a panel including former teachers of the year. San Diego Unified¹s Teachers of the Year and runners-up are eligible to apply for San Diego county Teacher of the Year, part of the process leading to the national Teacher of the Year. The county Teacher of the Year ceremony will be held this fall and is organized by the San Diego County Office of Education.
The Day of the Teacher celebration is a traditional event on the Board of Education calendar. All Board members and senior district staff are scheduled to attend. A pre-meeting reception is catered by students from culinary-arts classes in the College Career and Technical Education program. Music is provided by the Lewis Middle School Jazz Band.
Find out more about the program by visiting its web page at http://www.sandi.net/toy.