May 8, 2007
| • | Overview | 
Teachers of the Year 2006-07:
Rudy Ortiz (left), Courtney Browne (center), and Elizabeth Ward (right). |
| • | Teachers of the Year 2007-2008 |
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| • | Teachers of the Year Runners Up |
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| • | Teachers of the Year By Site |
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| • | Related Resources |
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| • | Contact Information |
Overview
The National Day of the Teacher is celebrated each year on the Tuesday of the first full week of May. This year's celebration was held Tuesday, May 8. While it takes a lot of people to make a school successful, National Teacher Day recognizes the teachers who work to make public schools great places for students to succeed in life. The day honors teachers and is a good opportunity to thank teachers for the lasting contributions they make to our lives and the lives of our children.
The San Diego Unified School District Board of Education was proud to recognize the more than 9,000 teachers in the district during this year’s Annual Day of the Teacher
. Each school's Teacher of the Year and the 2007-08 district Teachers of the Year were recognized and honored at this annual celebration. Teachers of the Year 2007-2008
Each year, three Teachers of the Year are selected to represent the three levels of education: elementary, middle and senior high level. This year's winners include Rudy Ortiz, Teacher of the Year at the Elementary Level; Courtney Browne, Teacher of the Year at the Middle Level; and Elizabeth Ward, Teacher of the Year at Senior High Level. The process for selecting the district’s three Teachers of the Year begins with a request for all principals and site-based representatives for the San Diego Education Association (SDEA) to hold nominations and conduct a secret ballot to select a school site Teacher of the Year nominee.
Nominees are invited to apply for consideration as one of three district-level Teachers of the Year. The application process includes a personal essay and up to five letters of recommendation from students, parents, teachers, principals, administrators or community members. A Teacher of the Year Selection Committee, which includes the Teachers of the Year for the previous two years, screens and scores each application packet. The Committee narrows the number of candidates to a semi-finalist field of teachers, and schedules interviews and in-classroom observations.
The final selection of the three Teachers of the Year and the three runners-up is made after the final day of observations. In addition to the district recognition, all Teachers of the Year and the three runners-up are invited to apply for the San Diego County Teachers of the Year awards. The four county Teachers of the Year will be announced October 7, 2007.
This year, there were 157 site nominations and 40 applicants for the district's Teacher of the Year awards. All will be honored at the Board of Education’s annual Day of the Teacher celebration on May 8, 2007.
Congratulations to the SDUSD 2007-2008 Teachers of the Year!
Rudy Ortiz, Euclid Elementary School
Pre-K Teacher
2007-2008 Elementary Level Teacher of the Year
Euclid Elementary pre-K teacher Rudy Jimenez Ortiz is the
2007-08 Teacher of the Year at the Elementary Level. A former
Euclid student himself, Rudy has chosen to live in the community
where he teaches. The City Heights resident is a strong advocate
for the Early Childhood Education Programs. He is a proven
leader and learner who invests his time, energy and passion in
offering a quality program to the preschool children in his classroom
and their families.
He credits his success and love of learning to his mom, a retired Pre-K teacher, and his father, a retired Army Master Sergeant and Vietnam Veteran, who always told him they believed in him; something he can’t say about any of his former teachers. When asked why he became a teacher, his response is: “To be the teacher I never had.” As he looks back, he can’t pick out one teacher who told him he’d be successful. In fact, his eighth grade counselor told his parents right in front of him that he wasn’t college material. Rudy did everything in his power to prove that counselor wrong.
>>View Rudy's full bio
Courtney Browne, Mann Middle School of Expedition
Science, Art and Computer Teacher
2007-2008 Middle Level Teacher of the Year
Courtney Browne, seventh grade science, art and computer
teacher at Mann Middle School of Expedition, is the 2007-08
Teacher of the Year at the Middle Level. The native New Yorker
and former pre-med student spent many years teaching in informal
settings before she had what she calls her “Eureka” moment.
She realized she wanted to have her own classroom and get to
know students over the course of the entire school year.
Prior to becoming a credentialed teacher, Courtney taught at the Birch Aquarium; worked at Homestead National Monument in Nebraska teaching students about flora and fauna; tutored and taught swimming to elementary students in the British West Indies; led hiking and backpacking trips through the Outdoor Program in Virginia; and tutored illiterate adults in Connecticut.
>>View Courtney's full bio
Elizabeth Ward, Serra High School
English Teacher and Coach
2007-2008 High School Teacher of the Year
Serra High School English teacher and coach, Elizabeth Ward
has been teaching for nine years, all at the same high school
where she once walked the halls as a student. A graduate of the
Class of 1987, she teaches ninth grade and Advanced Placement
(AP) English and coaches girls’ lacrosse, field hockey and soccer.
She credits her love of teaching to her grandfather who was a high school teacher/headmaster and athletics coach at an all-boys prep school in Connecticut. She spent summer and winter vacations in Connecticut, where her grandfather taught her the keys to inspiring young people to succeed: connect with students, be interested in their lives, and treat him or her as bright, capable, and worthy individuals. His lessons guide her own teaching today.
>>View Elizabeth's full bio
>>View Teacher of the Year Runners Up
>>View School Site Teachers of the Year
Related Resources
| • | Board Resolution - Day of the Teacher |
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| • | Previous Teacher of the Year Winners |
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| • | Administrative
Circular 52: 2006-07 Teacher of the Year Nominations
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Contact Information
| For Help With: | Contact: |
| Teacher of the Year Recognition Event | Linda Zintz Communications Supervisor Communications Department (619) 725-5568 lzintz@sandi.net |