2007 Teachers of the Year

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Each year, local educators face a rather daunting task – honoring just one out of the many hard-working teachers in San Benito County as Teacher of the Year.
This year, however, district officials were having trouble narrowing down the field of candidates. So they chose not to. Twelve teachers from districts throughout the county were honored last month as Teacher of the Year, the first time ever in San Benito that so many teachers were so recognized, County Superintendent of Schools Tim Foley said.
“It’s sometimes very difficult to pick just one teacher,” Foley said. “It’s such a rigorous process, and sometimes we might overlook someone very deserving. This year, there were so many wonderful nominations that a number of district officials felt uncomfortable selecting just one. They didn’t feel it was appropriate to do so, and I was happy to go along with that.”
Traditionally, one teacher is selected as the county’s Teacher of the Year. The winner is then moved forward in competitions at the state and national level. This time, Foley said, there was a general consensus among the districts to skip the other contests and honor more of their own instead.
“This year we decided we wanted to recognize more of our excellent teachers and spread the celebration throughout the county,” he said. “We felt that was more important than being able to participate in the other competitions.”
Once the decision was made to honor more than one teacher, Foley said district officials were told they could pick their recipient based on criteria that was special or important to that district. The Hollister School District honored one teacher from each of its eight schools, the Aromas-San Juan Unified and San Benito High School districts honored one teacher each. The other two recipients came from Chamberlain’s Children Center and the County Office of Education.
The 2006-07 Teachers of the Year for San Benito County are: Mayra Flores-Crump, Aromas-San Juan Unified; Donna Barry, Calaveras School; Lisa Uccello, Cerra Vista School; Amy Holland, Gabilan Hills School; Laura Muñoz-Velasquez, Ladd Lane School; Carole Lewis, R.O. Hardin School; Linda Polo, Sunnyslope School; Shari Vanderpool, Marguerite Maze Middle School; Kathy Larabell, Rancho San Justo Middle School; Rachel Flores-Zepeda, San Benito High School; Reena Sharma, Chamberlain’s Children Center; and Colleen Grimes, San Benito County Office of Education.
Each of the teachers was recognized at the county’s annual Board Dinner, held March 28 at San Juan Oaks in Hollister. Dozens of community members and elected officials were on hand to share in the celebration with the honorees, Foley said.
“It was a wonderful time and a wonderful night,” he said. “There was so much to celebrate and so very much to be proud of. These teachers that we honored are a splendid example of the dedication to the job that so many people on our staff share. It really was a very special night.”
Foley said he was pleased with the decision to honor so many teachers, and hopes to do it again. He would like to expand the competition by including private schools as well.
“San Benito County is such a wonderful place to be an educator,” he said. “We have such great staff. It’s such a joy to be able to recognize them in front of so many people.”

ABOVE LEFT: (L-R) Colleen Grimes, Recipient and
Mike Sanchez, Principal
San Benito County Office of Education
ABOVE MIDDLE: (L-R) Kathy Larabell, Recipient and
Don Knapp, Principal
Rancho San Justo Middle School
ABOVE RIGHT: (L-R) Donna Barry, Recipient
Donna Rider, Teacher
Calaveras School

ABOVE LEFT:(L-R) Jackie Muñoz, Superintendent, Mayra Flores-Crump, Recipient and Alicia Saballa-Santana, Principal
Aromas-San Juan Unified
ABOVE MIDDLE: (L-R) Linda Smith, Principal and Carole Lewis, Recipient
R.O. Hardin School
ABOVE RIGHT:(L-R) Stan Rose, Superintendent and
Rachel Flores-Zepeda, Recipient
San Benito High School

ABOVE LEFT:(L-R) Lisa Uccello, Recipient and
Deborah Bennett-Hall, Principal
Cerra Vista School
ABOVE MIDDLE: (L-R) Cheryl Weldon, Principal and Reena Sharma, Recipient
Chamberlain’s Children’s Center
ABOVE RIGHT: (L-R) Amy Holland, Recipient and
Dr. Dennis Kurtz, Principal
Gabilan Hills School

ABOVE LEFT:(L-R) Laura Muñoz-Velasquez, Recipient and Leslie Reyes,
Vice-Principal, Ladd Lane School
ABOVE MIDDLE: (L-R) Shari Vanderpool, Recipient
and Bernice Smith, Principal
Marguerite Maze Middle School
ABOVE RIGHT:(L-R) Melinda Scott, Principal
and Linda Polo, Recipient
Sunnyslope School

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