Kudos to PB Middle Staff!Cowabunga to teachers Erin Knight and Carren Lindsay-Dial! Both have been invited to attend the prestigious International Baccalaureate (IB) Academy in Detroit, MI. The IB Academy is open to IB educators who apply each year from all over North America. It is a very competitive process. While all of our teachers are IB trained, only a few out of the nation are selected to become official IB volunteers trained at an IB Academy. Our school will be one of the few Middle Years Programme World Schools to have five IB Academy trained educators on staff. Following Academy training, IB volunteers are qualified to evaluate, authorize, and consult with other IB schools, as well as lead IB teacher trainings throughout North America. Thank you for volunteering your time to our IB world-wide family and bringing great ideas back to benefit our students and community. Welcome Ernie Remillard, our new principal. Mr. Remillard brings a wealth of knowledge in mathematics and data-driven instructional strategies, International Baccalaureate Coordination,and administrative experience at Pacific Beach and De Portola Middle Schools. Ernie is also an IB Academy graduate. Educators never truly retire…Our former principal, Dr. Julie Martel is enjoying retirement but continues to serve her community by mentoring aspiring administrators at the University of San Diego, as well as volunteering with IB as a consultant and authorization/evaluation team member. Congrats to KarlaMartinez. Our dedicated physical educator earned the prestigiousNational Board Certification as well as being accepted into the IBAcademy training. Karla spends her summers training physical educatorsand new IB educators, in addition she helps authorize, evaluate andconsult with aspiring IB schools. Wow! Another award is bestowed to our dedicated Physical Education Department. Dennis Gildehaus has been named California Middle School Coach of the Year. In addition to being an outstanding physical educator, he also coordinates, promotes and leads intra and inter-mural sports leagues for our students. His dedication is unsurpassed and we are so happy he's been recognized for his time and efforts at our school and beyond. PB Middle educator and alum, Carren Lindsay-Dial has earned the IB Educator of the Year for Middle Years Programme IB World Schools by the California Association of IB World Schools. Thank you Carren for leading our students to make a difference in the lives of our neighbors around the globe through your collaboration on the "Invisible Children" child labor unit. PB Middle also hosts another California Association of IB World Schools Educator of the Year, Dan Sloan. He is not only dedicated, but also a very reflective educator. He always asks himself and colleagues about important questions about teaching and learning in the mathematics classroom and inspires students with his positivity and student-centered curriculum. His students report that his teaching is challenging, engaging, and relevant as he strives to connect mathematical concepts with real-world application and make connections to other subject areas. Congrats to Kyle Ketchum, voted Pacific Beach Middle IB World School Teacher of the Year by his peers. His classroom is child-centered and communication-based. Students are encouraged to communicate and take-risks by leading the class, comparing and demonstrating mathematical concepts, and to apply mathematics to solve real-life problems. For example: students learn about balancing equations and consider how to apply the concept to create more harmony and balance in their own lives and their own busy teen schedules. Thank you to Larissa Buckel, Pacific Beach Middle mathematics educator. Her nomination helped earn state-wide recognition for her student, Hannah Bloom, who was named Outstanding IB Middle Years Student for California. Thank you Mrs. Buckel for going above and beyond for your student. |