Teachers of the Year 2008-09:
Theodosia Ballard (left), John Rick (center), and Lili Reeves (right). |
- Overview
- Teachers of the Year 2008-2009
- Teachers of the Year Runners Up & Semifinalists
- Teachers of the Year By Site
- National Board Certified Teachers
- 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 6. 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 . The 2007 class of National Board Certified Teachers, 157 school-site Teachers of the Year and the 200-09 district Teachers of the Year were recognized and honored at this annual celebration.
Teachers of the Year 2008-09 being recognized at a San Diego Padres game. |
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 September 20, 2008.
This year, there were 157 site nominations and 40 applicants for the district's Teacher of the Year awards. All were honored at the annual Day of the Teacher celebration on May 6, 2008.
The Teachers of the Year were interviewed on KUSI and KNSD. Congratulations to the SDUSD 2008-2009 Teachers of the Year!
Theodosia Ballard, Porter Elementary
5th Grade Teacher
Theodosia Ballard lives by the words of Maya Angelou, “Pursue the things you love doing, and do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you. All other tangible rewards will come as a result.”
As a young child, she was a volunteer tutor for the Girls Club of San Diego, where she learned the value and rewards of helping others learn. But her path through the educational system didn’t lead to her own classroom until she conquered her own fear of failure. Growing up, she believed what others told her -- that she did not have what it would take to go to college, yet alone graduate.
Theodosia has now spent 14 years as a teacher, all at Walter J. Porter Elementary School and its predecessor, John F. Kennedy Elementary. She’s also a resident of the Lincoln Heights neighborhood.
>> View Theodosia's Full Biography
> > View the Video
John Rick, Marshall Middle School
Algebra and Geometry Teacher
John Rick once heard a comedian say that in high school, his algebra class and algebra teacher were his worst nightmare. Mr. Rick has vowed to his students that he won’t be that nightmare algebra teacher.
Teaching algebra and geometry at Thurgood Marshall Middle School, John uses skills from his first life as a civil engineer to make math and algebra relevant to his students. Now, in his second career, he has reached the top of his field as San Diego Unified School District’s Middle School Teacher of the Year.
“I believe in the power of activities that bring all students to the same starting block with any lesson,” he said. “I also believe in ending a lesson with a project that helps to answer the age-old question, When am I ever going to use this?”
Like many in mid-career, John lost his sense of purpose with his former job. But after a series of tutoring sessions with a neighborhood child, the light bulb went on.
>> View John's Full Biography
>> View the Video
Lili Reeves, Madison High School
AVID Teacher
When Lili Reeves says she watched her students “eyes roll and their chests heave with sighs” during one of her lessons as a rookie teacher, educators can picture their own classroom on a day when their eighth graders, second graders or any-graders just weren’t in a mood to learn.
But Lili was referring to the boredom of fellow teachers -- the first time she taught a professional development workshop.
“Another rookie English teacher spouting advice on how to improve classroom instruction,” she said. “Out came the newspapers, crossword puzzles and papers to grade.”
She continued with her lesson -- which some called the “flavor of the month” -- though only a few in the audience were tuned in.
That was 10 years ago. Today, she’s still extolling the virtues of a different way of teaching, as well as trying to boost her profession, which she believes has been battered and bullied by politicians and the public in recent years.
>> View Lili's Full Biography
>> View the Video
