2010 Teacher of the year

Toni Ann Schadler
As a teacher I have the power to make a major impression - good or bad - on every child in my classroom. I take that responsibility very seriously because I want to impact them in a way that leads to them making good choices. To accomplish that, I try always to be an outstanding role model and practice what I preach.
Picture featuring Toni Ann Schadler
2010 Teacher of the Year Nominations
Yolanda Leon
I definitely help my students to open their tool box called “knowledge”, and to learn and use each of their given tools or “abilities” so they become life-long learners. I believe that teaching allows me to go beyond the ordinary.
Yolanda Leon smiles for the camera
Hallie Birkett
I became a teacher because I want to change the world the way it was changed for me. And I do, everyday. I give meaning, I give hope, I give inspiration, and I give myself, fully. I connect with my students. I listen to their problems, I hear their complaints, and I tailor my style to best enhance everyone’s learning.
Picture featuring Hallie Birkett
Asia Victoria de Rosa
Teaching is a form of art that has the ability to affect lives. Teaching is beautiful, fulfilling, inspiring, exhilarating, the list is endless. The most powerful part about teaching is that everyone can learn. My beliefs about teaching is simple, connect and communicate in a variety of manners and the students will succeed.
Asia Victoria de Rosa smiles for the camera
Lorenia Bernal
Education is the key to success whether the person has special needs or not. It is what helps lift society out of poverty, it encourages inventions that make our lives safer and more productive, it provides independence and education is necessary for all societies in making life changing advances.
Lorenia Bernal smiles for the camera
Lucia Maken
I try to work on motivating the strengths to internalize values of a hard work ethic, and I try to instill in them the accountability factor that makes them conscientious independent learners. I believe this is one way, I demonstrate my beliefs, through my style of teaching. I believe there is hope in all children.
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Jennifer Valenzuela
The most rewarding part of my teaching is knowing that I have prepared my students for life after high school. I have taught them to be independent, to be responsible, to be problem solvers, to be critical thinkers, and goal getters. My biggest personal award comes later in life when former students approach me and tell me how I have impacted their lives and how they recognize my effort and influence.
Image with Jennifer Valenzuela smiling for the camera
Georgina Reis
My greatest contribution is not in the form of numbers or anything solid. It is in being present for my students. I know that my students want to come to school. I know that when they are here, they will receive the best that I can offer them. My students know that I have their best interest in my heart when making decisions about their future. To me, knowing that my students know this is my greatest contribution in education.
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Marianne Falconer
The rewards I receive in teaching are given by my students. Most are struggling learners and delight in any academic achievement, no matter the amount. I’ve always said that I need my students more than they need me. Their enthusiasm, exuberance, and engaging smiles energize me and induce me to preserve in my teaching career.
Marianne Falconer gets her picture taken
Renee Guevara
My primary goals in educating my students have always been to challenge, enlighten, and entertain them. I set high standards and expect them to reach those standards, even though the paths they seek to get there might be quite different. I’d also like to believe that my greatest contribution came from the smallest of gestures that are impossible to measure but may be very significant in any student’s life.
Margaret Erickson
Learning to appreciate and encourage my students individual gifts has enabled me to understand that all of us have unique abilities that must be developed for our happiness and the happiness of those around us. My students have taught me to relish imagination - their difficulties have taught me compassion, and their appreciation has opened my heart.
Photograph featuring Margaret Erickson
Megan Allen
My hope is that my students count on me to be there for them as a teacher and role model. I can only do this by modeling the behavior I expect from them. Showing up each day ready to teach, seeing them as the individual they are, and knowing that just like them, I am a work in progress.
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Margarita Trujillo
Children transmit energy and curiosity that make us realize how awesome life is. It is my responsibility to help them grow in all areas for the future. I strongly believe to be a good educator we need to have a solid understanding of developmental growth and continue to challenge ourselves.
Margarita Trujillo smiles for a picture
Marcia Aguirre-Fontes
One of the rewards in teaching is analyzing the different data and seeing the progress my students have made from the beginning of the year until the end. Another reward in teaching is the attachment and bond you get with students and their parents. Parents trust me to educate and discipline their child when it is necessary.
Image with Marcia Aguirre-Fontes
Sandra Licet Jimenez
It is the utmost importance that students receive an education that will not focus entirely on curriculum, but that children acquire skills and a knowledge that will pave the way and allow them to function at the greatest level throughout their entire academic career. To achieve this, they must have a teacher who is willing to sacrifice to ensure that students achieve not just at present time, but also for a lifetime!
Sandra Licet Jimenez gets her picture taken
David Clovesko-Wharton
I find intrinsic rewards in teaching everyday because I live in the moment with my students in a relatively democratic way. What the students think and say is important to me, and what we share as mentor-mentee relationships is critical to my sense of personal fulfillment being aware that learners is taking place at all times makes me feel alive and important in the lives of my students.
David Clovesko-Wharton poses for a picture
Shelly Rothstein
I would have to say my greatest contribution and accomplishments come from knowing I have made a difference in someone’s life, be it child or adult. It is exciting to know as teacher I have been effective and played a major role in the day to day growth and development of someone’s life. To watch a child or adult learner blossom before one’s eyes is the most incredible experience a teacher can have.
Photo of Shelly Rothstein