Classified & Certificated Staff 2021
Thursday, May 27, 2021 – Join via Live Stream @ 6PM
HONORING INNOVATION
The Pajaro Valley Education Foundation (PVEF) is honored to sponsor the annual Innovator of the Year Awards acknowledging the creative and innovative accomplishments of our staff.
From the group of site and department awardees, PVEF Board of Directors selected eleven individuals who will receive the District Innovator of the Year Award!
Each secondary school and department selected one classified and one certificated individual and each elementary school selected one classified, one certificated in TK- 2 and one in 3-5/6 who is making a significant contribution to PVUSD’s Vision through innovative and creative strategies to receive the Site/Department Innovator of the Year award.
PROGRAM
Welcome and MC
Dr. Michelle Rodriguez, Superintendent
Remarks
Maria Orozco, PVEF President and PVUSD Trustee
Katryn Bermudez, PVEF Vice President and PVUSD Teacher (Auction link )
Jennifer Holm, PVEF Treasurer and PVUSD Board President
Introduction of Innovators
Introduction of Site and Department Innovator Honorees
Introduction of 11 District Innovator Honorees
Classified – Administrative Secretary I
Ms. Silvey constantly models making connections with adult students, staff and teachers that creates an office culture that is supportive and positive for all. Weekly strategies are shared with staff which increases their involvement through the opportunities to enhance individual capacity and ultimately empowerment.
Adult Education
STACY SILVEY-DIAZ
This year has been challenging and Ms. Mast rose to the occasion, creating YouTube videos for parents to watch. Preschool students thoroughly enjoyed the activities and the entire curriculum was redesigned for the 2020-2021 school year. Ms. Mast Center for Employment Training classes are very pertinent for her Adult English Language Learning students.
SARAH MAST
Certificated – Parent Ed; ESL Instructor
Adult Education
Laurel’s students have grown their academic skills in a major way despite the challenges associated with learning virtually. She is a risk-taker, and willing to try new things in the best interest of the learners she works with. Her positivity, strong organizational skills, and thoughtful, consistent use of the available technologies is what paved the way for student success; not only for her own students, but those of her colleagues as well.
LAUREL CEDARBLADE
Certificated – 1st – 2nd Grade Teacher
Valencia Elementary
Deborah was a lead for our site in implementing new technologies and sharing them with her fellow teachers, thus benefiting all of our students. Overall, Deborah’s students have shown strong gains throughout an extremely challenging year. Her thoughtful, consistent use of technology – modeling, implementation, and follow-through – with her students, parents, and fellow teachers impacted the Team Valencia Community in such a positive way. The Merriam Webster definition of "innovator" is to make changes or do something in a new way. Deborah would like to share this honor with her colleagues, as all teachers have shown dedication and perseverance, stretching professionally to serve students this year.
DEBORAH MATLOW
Certificated – 3rd Grade Teacher
Valencia Elementary
Amie is a patient and productive problem solver. She is adept at seeing the big picture and is able to visualize new ways of doing things for improved functioning of our front office systems. Our office is a calm, friendly, helpful, and well-organized place, due to Amie’s leadership and thoughtful problem-solving skills. We all trust in her abilities to get everything done – and done well. We are at ease because we KNOW that she is looking out for our team and is willing to lend support whenever it’s needed.
AMIE JOHNSON
Classified – Administrative Assistant/Office Manager
Valencia Elementary
Michael saw an opportunity to help create an engaging, robust and thriving Business Pathway in the face of distance learning. Michael worked tirelessly to implement the World Series of Innovation digitally as well as co-create a new curriculum for Business Plan Challenges that can be done both in-person as well as distance.
MICHAEL TENNANT
Certificated – Business Pathway Teacher
Diamond Technology Institute
Janette was instrumental in the design of the Digital Learning Resources website that contains hundreds of screencasts, how-to documents, and tutorials for teachers, students, and parents. Janie’s digital content supported teachers, students, and parents to incorporate 21st century learning opportunities for students in both Spanish and English. Janette has a very calm and cheerful demeanor that makes teachers and students instantly comfortable and willing to take risks and learn new things.
JANETTE ISLAS
Certificated – District Technology Innovation Coach
Technology Services
Katherine was an integral part of configuring hotspots, planning and managing the Chromebook drive-through support, as well as the lead in repairing and re-deploying hundreds of Chromebooks that were returned damaged. She developed an assembly line process to assess and determine Chromebook issues that commonly occur, and also quickly repair Chromebooks with those same issues.
KATHERINE WALES
Classified – District Technology Support Technician
Technology Services
Mr. Ehrlich quickly realized that distance learning proved to be too great of a challenge for many of our students. He was instrumental in establishing our small in person group on campus. This involved a great deal of creativity, commitment and time. Mr. Ehrlich always puts the student’s first, he is truly an advocate for our youth. Through Mr. Ehrlich’s determination and devotion to our students we saw an increase in credit accrual and a positive impact on our students overall wellbeing.
ROBERT EHRLICH
Classified – Community Liaison
Renaissance High
Coming to a new school can often feel nerve racking and overwhelming. Because of the Entry Program that Ms. Flores so gracefully runs, our students feel a sense of safety and understanding, making the transition to the regular campus less anxiety provoking. Her ability to create deep meaningful relationships with our students gives them the hope that a high school diploma is achievable and that the adults at this school truly care about them.
ELISA CHAVELI FLORES
Certificated – Entry Program Teacher
Renaissance High
Even though she was working from home with her own children engaged with distance learning, Ms. Ortiz made herself available to parents whenever it was convenient for them. She provided technical support and answered questions as many times as it took for parents to feel comfortable. Parents were then able to take advantage of their new technology skills as they learned virtually how to work with their children at home, based on the model Ms. Ortiz provided, as well as the individual coaching she provided to parents.
EVELINA ORTIZ
Certificated – 1st Grade Bilingual Teacher
Ohlone Elementary
Ms. Woodhouse’s creativity applied to students learning to work together in a variety of formats has contributed to a stellar school year where every day of the school provides students the skills that they need to prosper in this grade and as part of a strong foundation as they move forward with their lifelong education. Despite the challenging circumstances this school year has presented, Ms. Woodhouse continued to reach her students by any means necessary.
LISA WOODHOUSE
Certificated – 4th Grade Teacher
Ohlone Elementary
Ms. Corona’s approach to supporting instruction can best be described as “doing whatever it takes.” She is quick to respond to technology issues for any member of the class community. Parents know they can contact her whenever they need support, and she will help them. She is an advocate for students and their learning and has helped close the digital divide for students, families, and staff.
JACQUELINE CORONA
Classified – Instructional Assistant
Ohlone Elementary
Chris has innovated throughout the year to best serve students in a distance learning environment. He led the investigation and effort to implement a virtual machine interface to gain access to the Adobe Creative Suite for more than 800 students to be able to access industry-standard technology on Chromebooks. He trained teachers and innovated a successful rollout, positively impacting student learning and engagement.
CHRIS BUNTING
Classified – District Tech �Support Technician
Career Technical Education
Jovita created a way for students to continue to stay engaged with reading and motivated by creating a way for them to continue to access their favorite books. She also read with and to students to provide a sense of normalcy in these unprecedented times. Students and teachers looked forward to their time with her!
JOVITA MOLINA
Classified – Media Tech
Alianza Charter School
Ms. Nacht models life-long learning; she actively seeks professional development opportunities and is willing to try new strategies and methodologies. Even though she was new to the first-grade team, she made herself available to team members as a mentor and a guide in areas with expertise, such as Class Dojo, Bridges in Mathematics digital tools and games, and Adelante digital components.
SHERI NACHT
Certificated – 1st Grade Teacher
Alianza Charter School
During a time of distance learning and decreased ability to identify families and provide services, Daisy has lead the charge in Healthy Start to increase outreach to our families experiencing homelessness and students in Foster Care. Daisy also jumped in with both feet to learn the grant-writing process to solidify a three-year funding grant for Healthy Start to continue and even increase services to our most needy families.
DAISY BROOKS
Classified – Healthy Start Registration Technician
Student Services
In a time of distance learning, Anne has worked hard to develop a system for capturing and elevating the voice of students by providing space for students to understand and use “data” about their learning. Students who have participated are more likely to share online or in-person, and report feeling valued and listened to while having a better understanding about their data. The students who have engaged in this process have shown an increase in feeling more connected to school.
ANNE CHILDERS
Certificated – TOSA
Student Services
Ms. Burkhart developed, then carefully practiced and honed, a system for in class discussions that has resulted in spirited debate and full class participation discussions. She used her expertise in questioning, wait time, and simple tech tools like Polls, chat, and collaborative Google Slides to design a class environment where sophomores and juniors feel confident having small group and full class discussions anchored in the text they are reading.
SARAH BURKHART
Certificated – English Teacher; Speech and Debate Team, Advisor
Aptos High School
In addition to building systems during COVID, she has dedicated countless hours of time to assure that students and staff receive the support they need to engage with learning. For example, Ms. Nowlin has crafted virtual support tools to help students sign-up for school photos, and she made screencasts to support teachers with requesting substitutes. Ms. Nowlin’s seeks to reduce barriers for students and staff.
MONICA NOWLIN
Classified – Office Manager
Aptos High School
Becca has transformed her virtual classroom into a highly rigorous, loving, and warm learning community. She is extremely effective in teaching all the content areas as well as Social Emotional Learning. It is very apparent students feel safe and belong to a loving community. This community wealth is evident in other parts of the day. Students participate and support each other because they clearly care for one another.
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REBECCA SHANFIELD
Certificated – 3rd Grade Dual Language Teacher
Starlight Elementary
Branan is an incredibly talented and innovative Art Teacher as seen in her most dynamic virtual art room. Our students LOVE Ms. B. Her creativity has enriched the children, inspired our families, and has beautified our entire school. She has linked all her art lessons to our Language Arts curriculum so students think and learn thematically all year long. She has developed a community project called “Honoring our COVID Experience” for our school to recognize our challenging time and our reemergence. Finally, she designed the most gorgeous sensory path for our students as part of our PBIS implementation which is a mural on the ground designed with Monterey Bay Aquatic theme.
BRANAN FREEMAN
Certificated – K to 3 VAPA Art Teacher
Starlight Elementary
Arnold has been instrumental in our success as we transitioned to Distance Learning. As our lead custodian, he has helped us reinvent our school to meet the safety and learning needs of our students and families. He helped us create a system to greet students and staff safely while maintaining high standards for safety. He puts out giant beautiful flags each day, bubbles and greets all families with a smile and a joke. We even named the Octopus in our sensory path, “Arnold the Octopus” because it is like he has 8 arms going every which way to support us in all we need. Congratulations, Arnold!
ARNOLD WILSON
Classified – Lead Custodian
Starlight Elementary
This is the first time we have had a teacher's aide in the Distance Learning format. Rather than simply have an aide support the efforts of the teacher, the aide supported other students; “underclassmen.” This created opportunities for social emotional and academic support for our 7th grade students. It also offered social/emotional support (or an outlet rather) and an affirmation of academic skill for the 8th grade student. It was a win-win
CHERYL RICHARDS
Certificated – Humanities Core and Ed Support
Aptos Jr. High
Mr. Arce employed Google Docs and class relay to track, monitor, and support an increase in student participation. His efforts focused on those learners that exhibited limited attendance. Mr. Arce would then make contact with students and families. He would make references for tech support and or other resources that were needed by students and families.
RAFAEL ARCE
Aptos Jr. High
Classified – Attendance Specialist
Kristen Erickson has been the lead in the implementation of Ethnic Studies courses in PVUSD. In this implementation at the high school level, students are at the center of their own education. By having the option to take an English Ethnic Studies course gives students a voice and choice in their educational journey which allows for motivation and engagement.
KRISTEN ERICKSON
Certificated – Secondary Literacy and Social Science Coach
Education Services Dept.
Regardless of what is happening in her outside life or work life, Jeannette comes to work ready to support staff in their job duties and looks for ways to shorten time required on projects. When asked to look over a project or presentation, Jeannette will give effective feedback and always give advice on how it can be improved, whether it is something for parents or for staff. Having someone who is a bright spot that regularly reminds staff (all staff in all departments at all levels) that we are here in service of our families is a great asset.
JEANNETTE CASTILLO
Classified – Executive Assistant
Education Services Dept.
Ms. Hurtado-Ortiz created an application that students can upload to their phones and access resources that support their socio-emotional wellbeing. Ms. Hurtado-Ortiz has managed to provide support through this application, the online counselor’s google site and through the PD she provides all LMS staff to learn how to support students during this pandemic. She offers workshops for families and has also taken on the role of HOUSE coordinator to ensure students are feeling a sense of connection to our school through engaging school wide activities. Her impact is schoolwide; staff, families, and students. She has undoubtedly supported our entire school site throughout this pandemic and made a great impact.
BRENDA HURTADO-ORTIZ
Certificated – Social Emotional Counselor
Lakeview Middle School
Prior to the need for online learning, Ms. Sanchez provided students an opportunity to check out books and access the online library. She quickly addressed the need to pivot during the pandemic to offer an interactive and engaging platform that encouraged students to develop their literacy in a variety of ways. She provided links to audio books, developed reading competitions by encouraging students to log into EPIC books and added a multitude of resources.
ELSA SANCHEZ
Classified – Librarian
Lakeview Middle School
Christiane is a constant advocate for her students and colleagues. She advises our PBIS team with great ideas and instructional best practices that directly address our LCAP Goal 1. By focusing on this student centered goal setting approach and including public recognition, she has fostered enormous academic growth. She also supports her team with a tireless effort until it reaches her students. Her impact touches multiple grade levels at our school.
CHRISTIANE ORELLANA
Certificated – 4th/5th Combo Teacher
Landmark Elementary
Ms. Barrios is an excellent educator who has a great ability to reach our English language learners. Her efforts directly affect all of her students through adding then thinking and talking about different genres as a robust sequence for learning academic language. Ms. Barrios is constantly modeling to help students translate from academic to social language and back.
VERONICA BARRIOS
Certificated – 1st Grade Bilingual Teacher
Landmark Elementary
Ms. Galvan works collaboratively with school personnel to create an amazing professional learning community. As she strives to keep our office running smoothly, her efforts to serve our school community is full of vibrant energy and encourages those around her to smile and engage with one another. Ms. Lupita always greets people with a smile and warm demeanor. Her ability to brighten up a room is often attributed her naturally positive attitude and friendly communication style.
LUPITA GALVAN
Classified – Administrative Assistant
Landmark Elementary
Congratulations Teresa, who alongside her Co Teacher in Ann Soldo’s Learning Center Model, has truly gone the extra mile to innovate her practice to reach students in her 4th grade classroom. She has stayed current and creative all through Distance Learning. Her innovative art lessons hook students and allow for a starting point from which to problem solve and make connections to other content areas. Teresa has innovated her already successful systems for reaching students. She has done this tirelessly, over the computer, by lowering the affective filter, keeping students engaged and with genuine connections. Teresa and her coteacher found innovative ways to lesson plan, analyze data, identify trends and patterns and collaborate, all the while maintaining their collaborative partnership and focus on students. Teresa is a True Innovating All Star Teacher.
TERESA THOMPSON
Certificated – Learning Center Co-Teacher
Ann Soldo Elementary
Congratulations Clarinda, who alongside her Co Teacher in Ann Soldo’s Learning Center Model, has continued her advocacy of students with All Star Innovation. Clarinda truly cares about the success of students and her colleagues, nurturing the relationships she established virtually all throughout the year. Through her tenacity and innovative ways to engage and encourage participation, students feel respected and encouraged to learn and to push themselves. Virtually, she has guided and supported the site PBIS team and contributed to our TFI application for GOLD Status. She organized innovative, virtual Class Dojo Celebrations as well. She is a true Innovating All Star Teacher!
CLARINDA HIGGINS
Certificated – Learning Center Co-Teacher
Ann Soldo Elementary
As our library media tech, Pam has established systems and inviting ways to connect with students, families and staff during this year of Distance Learning. She has embraced several forms of new technology, from Google Meets and A Bitmoji Library, to reading to students virtually, and celebrating Read Across America with fun events all week long. She created successful systems for book check out and pick up through email, phone calls and book holds; it was like a Personal Librarian Service. Students have been excited to see her as they return for In Person Instruction, offering her smile and All Star Bookmobile. Pam is a True Innovating All Star!
PAMELA ARBANAS
Classified – Librarian
Ann Soldo Elementary
As our department went through personnel changes Erica adapted and worked tirelessly to support new systems of operation that better aligned to the needs of the department, sites and students. Specifically, Erica was instrumental in recreating the way we monitor English Learners in order to Reclassify and support students. Using her tech skills and her knowledge of our district she was instrumental in onboarding two new team members as we adjusted our systems to a new design. We are now more agile of a department because of her.
ERICA COBBS
Classified – Data Entry Assistant
Equity State & Federal Services
By facilitating a variety of methods to communicate with families Julie has made an impact on community engagement by having a high rate of parent involvement throughout the year. Julie ensures that she communicates with all families on a regular basis and supporting them in making their voices heard by working with families to complete all family surveys that are sent to our families.
JULIE NINO NEWMAN
Certificated – 1ST Grade Teacher
Amesti Elementary
With Distance Learning Lupe has had to adjust her techniques in order to continue to be an effective Instruction Aide with our students. Although Lupe has always been a caring and engaging staff member she has had to adjust to the online platform in order to continue to support our students. Lupe has not only met these challenges she has excelled during these difficult times. She has been a role model for our students in showing them that learning never stops.
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LUPE DURAN
Classified – IA Spec Ed SDC
Amesti Elementary
Ms. Medina made it a priority to continue with our Student Council throughout our implementation of distance learning. Noemi began by developing a Google Classroom for our Student Council and holding regular virtual meetings. By continuing to provide a variety of ways for our students to display and participate in school spirit events our students continue to feel connected to school and to each other.
NOEMI MEDINA
Certificated – 3rd Grade Teacher
Amesti Elementary
Patrick has been an innovator in the areas of outdoor learning, health and nutrition education since starting with Extended Learning in 2008, when he established the school gardens at Starlight and Hyde, as well as the garden and orchard at Cesar Chavez. Over the years, Patrick has used school gardens to teach thousands of students science, math, cooking, language development and more, all using food they’ve grown themselves. Patrick’s passion for nutrition, gardening, and health has given our students the opportunity to expand their life skills and experiences in new ways.
PATRICK LITTLETON
Certificated – Nutrition & Garden Educator
Extended Learning Program
Isaiah always has a smile on his face and is a positive force wherever he goes. He’s always willing to provide support in any way possible. Last summer he was instrumental in the creation and distribution of backpacks to students full of learning supplies and has not slowed down since then. Isaiah works hard behind the scenes and doesn’t like public kudos or acknowledgement. He just always wants to do what is best for students. It’s hard to quantify the impact he has on our community. He is a role model and overall wonderful human being. We are lucky to have him on our team.
ISAIAH CHAVARRIA
Classified – Enrichment Specialist
Extended Learning
Ms. Miller provides students with opportunities to connect with the school community and also the broader community. She intentionally plans and includes lessons and projects that are connected to students' lived experiences. Ms. Miller creates student awareness about local ecosystems and community-based organizations.
ALICE MILLER
Certificated – 4th Grade Teacher
Hall District Elementary
Ms. Barbara adapted to a new set of job descriptions this year changed from supervising students to organizing materials for distribution. She has been creative with the organization of materials distribution and supporting office and admin staff. She was innovative in actively identifying work that needed to be done to support the school site and helped delegate tasks to her colleagues.
BARBARA CHAVARRIA
Classified – Yard Duty
Hall District Elementary
Ms. Espitia ensures that all students' educational needs are met. She leverages technology to increase differentiation for her students. She equips students with digital citizenship skills that increase their access to distance learning. In Ms. Espitia's class, students are successful and take greater ownership of their own learning.
MONTSERRATE ESPITIA
Certificated – 2nd Grade Teacher
Hall District Elementary
With the onset of COVID, processes to spend and claim MAA LEA funds had to be reevaluated. Sheri quickly reached out to the state regarding health claim procedures to ensure the MAA LEA funds would not go unclaimed during distance learning. Sheri worked closely with site and department contacts to create a process that would allow a way for staff to claim time even though it was different than what was previously allowable.
SHERI BOWERS
Classified – MAA/LEA Coordinator
Finance Department
Shannon has partnered with Idea Launch to promote entrepreneurial skills, coding, and presentation with middle school students. This project was to teach kids how to look at problems, come up with solutions, and transform these solutions into usable products or start up companies. At the culmination of this project, if a student has completed all necessary items plus a non-working APP, the student was rewarded with a personal laptop they were able to keep.
SHANNON HAMMOND-PAPPAZISIS
Certificated – 6th Grade Teacher
Watsonville Charter School of the Arts
As an arts charter school, our goals are to infuse the arts into all of our curricular areas. Michelle Voorhees has excelled at infusing dance into her science program. She has partnered with Laurel Shastri through the Artist Teacher Partnership Program through the Santa Cruz Arts Council. Together, they have incorporated science concepts with dance. Her students have been more engaged and active during science lessons, as well as retained the information that has been infused into dance.
MICHELLE VOORHEES
Certificated – 5th Grade Teacher
Watsonville Charter School of the Arts
Alex has been pivotal in organizing our back to school for in-person learning safety protocols and campus movement. She has taken a leadership role in creating the school map, safety videos, and the flow of traffic. Alex has also led in the 5-star screening as well as our Chameleon of the Week recognitions. Alex’s innovations have immensely increased WCSA’s efficiency. Without her, we may not have been able to transition seamlessly into in-person learning or celebrated our students each week.
ALEXANDRA RIVERA
Classified – Office Assistant
Watsonville Charter School of the Arts
Patricia Sotarello has worked tirelessly on behalf of the students at Cesar Chavez Middle School to demonstrate an appreciation of the arts. Patricia has encouraged students to step out of their comfort zone as artists and embrace the artist’s life. She had her students work with colleagues from Amesti Elementary and Alianza Charter School to create a published art book entitled “Mis Palabras/Your Drawings.”
PATRICIA SOTARELLO
Certificated – Art Teacher
Cesar Chavez Middle School
Fidel Hernandez worked for the Pajaro Valley School District for forty-two years, retiring in March of 2021. Throughout his time at PVUSD, Fidel worked tirelessly to support the PVUSD community. In addition to creating and maintaining one of the best grounds and buildings in the district, Fidel also gave of his time to the students at CCMS. He coached throughout his tenure at CCMS and influenced in a positive way our school culture.
FIDEL HERNANDEZ
Classified – Lead Custodian
Cesar Chavez Middle School
When we were forced to hold IEPs virtually or on the phone, all case managers/ed specialists pivoted to do so. However, it is really hard to educate parents to new IEPs and collaborate with them by only dictating the contents or scrolling through the document in a shared screen. Christi created a simple slide presentation template to highlight sections of the IEP, capture their parent’s participation and insert pictures of their child learning or work samples to highlight their child’s skills.
CHRISTI CATTON
Certificated – ECE Specialist; Autism Pre-K
Duncan Holbert
Using consistent, calm and positive strategy with students has been observed to be Elena’s success with even students experiencing the highest level of distress. Not only is she able to deescalate students, but she also has students who are drawn to her in both virtual and in-person. Students with limited language learn her name because they want to and I think that speaks volumes on the impact.
ELENA CORONA
Classified – Instructional Assistant
Duncan Holbert
Suzy is innovative in her communication strategies across campus to work on behalf of her students. She also brings in technology and hands-on activities to make sure her students have the best opportunity for success. This improves our school culture and our student academic achievement. She brings educators together to discuss and strategize ways to put forth curriculum for both general and special education students. Often her ideas help the regular education students a great deal.
SUSAN PLUMEZ
Certificated - Teacher
EA Hall Middle School
Ashley completely changed the face of school health screening!! She has been working so hard, and going above and beyond to create a safe space for our students. Ashley has improved our school this year by making it Covid safe for staff and students. Have you seen the amazing health center she created?!!!!! It has been viewed by other members of the district as THE EXAMPLE!
ASHLEY YORO FLOWERS
Classified – Health Care Assistant
EA Hall Middle School
Cynthia Gizdich has been a dedicated PVUSD employee since 1996. She has worked at many sites throughout the district and has been happily leading her crew at Pajaro Middle School for several years. She is very involved with the students and staff of Safe Spaces, striving to make daily meals for all healthy, fresh and nicely presented, adding to each student’s sense of connectedness, engagement and hope.
CYNTHIA GIZDICH
Classified – Site Leader III
Food & Nutrition Services
Lilia has been instrumental in guiding/helping her colleagues with virtual learning platforms and tools from Class Dojo to FlipGrid. Student engagement increased as teachers incorporated more and more virtual learning tools to their weekly planner. Ms. Díaz is equipping students with 21st Century skills to have a bright future in this rapidly growing digital economy.
LILIA DIAZ
Certificated – 3rd Grade Dual Language Teacher
Freedom Elementary
Maru has created a culture where students feel secure, safe, and supported. This positive school environment encourages positive behavior and increases students' sense of connectedness, engagement and sense of accomplishment. Mrs. Márquez believes that social-emotional learning is not “separate” to academics but essential and can be taught and implemented in a number of ways.
MARIA E. MARQUEZ
Certificated – 1st Grade Dual Language Teacher
Freedom Elementary
DIANA HERNANDEZ
Classified – Office Assistant
Freedom Elementary
Attendance is very important to Diana. She knows that students are more likely to succeed in academics when they attend school every day. Every single day, Mrs. Hernández calls parents of students who are marked absent . Diana does not rely on robocalls, she will contact parents when their children are not in school to let them know the school is concerned. Attendance rates are in the high 90’s.
Even though this year presented many challenges, Ms. Fernandez maintained the commitment and dedication to make sure that important cultural content was not left out. A commitment we made in redefining our Dual Language was to prioritize the teaching and celebrating of the many different cultures and indigenous populations we have in the United States. This year Cynthia has worked diligently to make sure that our school continues to recognize and celebrate various Heritage months throughout the course of the year.
CYNTHIA FERNANDEZ
Certificated – 1st Grade Teacher
HA Hyde Elementary
Jennifer Melander is being recognized for her high level of expectation that she has for her students in her SDC Autism classroom. She redesigned her virtual instruction to continually push her students to work hard in assessing curriculum in order for them to be able to meet their IEP goals. Ms. Melander believes her students CAN and provides the structure and support for them to succeed.
JENNIFER MELANDER
Certificated – Teacher Autism 3-5
HA Hyde Elementary
Angela Martinez goes above and beyond to serve families in our community. She is a natural teacher and adapted seamlessly to online teaching. She's trilingual and supports our families in Mixteco with technical assistance and education. She is also a community advocate through volunteer work as she serves and celebrates farm workers. Luckily, Angela has decided to pursue a career in education. She will graduate from CSUMB next year!
ANGELA MARTINEZ
Classified – Instructional Assistant
HA Hyde Elementary
Esmeralda’s positive energy and knowledge has had a huge impact on student achievement because many credit deficient and out of school youth have actually been able to get their high school diploma or equivalent. She connects with students and understands them. She gives them hope and she empowers them and their parents.
ESMERALDA PEREZ
Classified – Migrant Outreach Specialist
Migrant Education Services
During the Pandemic times, Yolanda had to find innovative ways to communicate with families, meet with families and run our migrant PAC monthly meetings. During this school year, Yolanda was able to organize a successful parent conference, increase the number of participants during our PAC meetings (zoom) and maintain communication with our families throughout the school year.
YOLANDA MELGOZA
Certificated – Parent Education Coord.
Migrant Education Services
Despite Ms. Demers’s unwavering commitment to developing the joy of reading across the school community, she also found time to support other school initiatives as well. Ms. Demers Impact goes far beyond the walls of our Bradley School Library. Her commitment and efforts behind the scenes this year have touched the entire student body, teachers, and Bradley community.
EILEEN DEMERS
Classified - Librarian
Bradley Elementary
Ms. Shaw is the embodiment of a teacher that works tirelessly to bring truly innovative teaching practices into her 5th-grade classroom. She worked tirelessly to embed new ways to deliver content, promote meaningful dialog, and increase student participation with the varied technology resources she encouraged her students to use throughout the school day.
BRANDY SHAW
Certificated – 5th Grade Teacher
Bradley Elementary
Ms. DiBenedetto masterfully navigated every teacher’s schedule from k-6th grade to ensure all of the students on her case-load received the individualized instruction they needed to meet their goals. She never let the challenges of distance learning as an excuse and her students all made great progress this year.
SARAH DIBENEDETTO
Certificated – Speech & Language Pathologist
Bradley Elementary
Chandra has been instrumental in working with Tier II behaviors, a member of our Leadership Team, SIPPS Lead, just to name a few. During Distance learning she created multiple opportunities both on the computer and off the computer for students to express or demonstrate their learning. She has brought new technology, new strategies, and new ways of thinking to her peers and the school. It has been an honor to work with Chandra. I have often said her classroom is “My Happy Place” as the level of rigor, positive culture, and meeting the needs of her students is palpable.
CHANDRA CHOLAKIAN
Certificated – 3rd Grade Teacher
Mintie White
Roberta Tapiz is the foundation of Mintie White. Roberta has worked for the district for well over 10 years as our Yard Duty Safety Monitor. From teachers and administrators we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we can count on her to be there everyday and always looking out for students and their families.
ROBERTA TAPIZ
Classified – Safety Monitor
Mintie White
Amanda Chausse is a positive influence on her students and staff. She holds students accountable for their work, and balances that accountability with innovative ways to make them feel safe enough to take risks to learn. Her room is creative and beautiful whether it is online or in person. She is a great asset to our Mintie White Eagles nest.
AMANDA CHUASSE
Certificated – 2nd Grade Teacher
Mintie White
Miran McPoland works every day to refine her practice as an educator. In every lesson I have seen her teach she never forgets to think about student engagement, a strong articulation of the lesson goal and a review of vocabulary. To most, this may seem very basic but what makes Miran unique is the fact that she makes learning fun while continuing to keep her learning expectations high.
MIRAN MCPOLAND
Certificated – Music Teacher
MacQuiddy Elementary
Mrs. Rocio Pantoja uses her bilingual skills on a daily basis to support the needs of English Language Learners and has shown a strong emphasis on LCAP goal #1. She is committed to refining her skills in Early Literacy particularly in the area of SIPPS. By working closely with the district coaches Rocio has improved her student success in their foundational reading skills.
ROCIO PANTOJA
Certificated – Kindergarten Teacher
MacQuiddy Elementary
No one knows and loves MacQuiddy Elementary School quite like Mrs. Matos. Being a team player and supporting our community through actions versus words is what Ms. Matos is all about. Mrs. Matos has a positive attitude and genuinely cares about our community. She helps our community feel connected and is always there to support our students with a nurturing word, and to bend over backwards to help a teacher or staff member in whatever way she can.
MARIA MATOS
Classified – Office Admin. Assistant
MacQuiddy Elementary
Mr. Manier created a goal-setting template he utilizes during coaching sessions to help guide 4/5 grade students in careful self-reflection in their education and foster their ability to create and obtain their individual goals. Mr. Manier's Goal-Setting template and focused time on student's personal reflection and self-directedness has directly increased students efficiency.
DAVID MANIER
Certificated – 4th to 5th Elementary Supervising Teacher
Virtual Academy
Courtney’s PLP redesign with academic and socio-emotional goal setting assists to increase student performance to ensure College and Career Readiness. Courtney's new format includes all necessary pieces in an organized and efficient manner. I love the color coding!! By including all of the moving parts in this one document students are held accountable and can see
everything they need to do, including how to improve their grades, should they so desire.
COURTNEY RUDD
Certificated – Middle School Supervising Teacher
Virtual Academy
Aaron strives to engage students in 21st Century Environments and works diligently to increase
student performance to ensure College and Career Readiness. Aaron has created a Virtual
Exchange Program at VA which is connected to a school in Morocco. Lastly, he has created supplemental videos for instructional content
support.
AARON BIELENBERG
Certificated – High School Supervising Teacher
Virtual Academy
Ava created a small virtual direct instruction group to support Spanish speaking students literacy skills. Leveled reading in small groups to support language development in addition to fostering community and building friendships. Includes games such as go-fish into weekly coaching sessions. Independent study can be socially isolating by nature. Providing students with systematic, small group collaboration allows for authentic language practice, friendship and real time opportunities to model language.
AVA KLEIN
Certificated – K to 3rd Elementary Supervising Teacher
Virtual Academy
Jazmine has helped in creating the tone of the VA with her friendly and upbeat demeanor. Her focus on building rapport with families and staff alike has greatly supported the formation of the VA community. She makes herself available and responds in a manner that invites collaborative relationships. She is great with producing videos and marketing materials such as the brochure. She has a great eye for design and makes us look professional!
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JAZMINE ANCIRA
Classified – Administrative Assistant
Virtual Academy
Heather is out of this world and our school is so lucky to have her. She is an outstanding and brilliant teacher and the kids learn so much from her. She has enhanced the curriculum to make it more engaging and appropriate for distance learning. She brings creative Science and Social Studies ideas to her fourth graders that are fun and engaging learning experiences. Heather is always willing to try new things, is flexible, and a team player.
HEATHER REAVES
Certificated – 4th Grade Teacher
Mar Vista Elementary
Nancy innovates to keep our school beautiful. She works tirelessly to paint, sand, and dust the doors of our classrooms and takes on projects that really make our school look polished. Nancy is also willing to help staff with whatever they need in their classroom and helps in a timely manner. She is positive, upbeat and works with a smile on her face. Nancy is a bright light and always goes above and beyond. This year, she took full advantage of her time without students and worked hard on beautifying our school!
NANCY PEREZ
Classified – Lead Custodian
Mar Vista Elementary
Trina has been very innovative this year making distance learning fun and engaging for students. From dance party brain breaks to mindfulness, her students are happily participating and learning! She does mindfulness activities with her class to promote a sense of self-awareness and a feeling of calm for her first graders. Even online, she is able to set up a daily calming mindfulness activity for her students. She is creative and models being a calm, patient teacher. She is always positive and willing to help other teachers. She conveys a sense of caring and optimism with her students, which results in confident, kind and collaborative learners.
TRINA McCOY
Certificated – 1st Grade Teacher
Mar Vista Elementary
Joe has been able to help student athletes, coaches, and parents navigate the complex rules and requirements needed during this time to allow students to compete. This has impacted hundreds of students and their families to return to play and also have a positive impact on the climate and culture of our campus.
JOSEPH MANFRE
Certificated – Athletics Director
Pajaro Valley High
Richard has dedicated himself to making sure our campus is completely prepared for the In Person Learning environment. All maintenance and cleaning that needs to be done daily is organized and followed through by Rich. Rich helped to restructure duties and responsibilities for the entire custodial staff to create better efficiency with the upkeep, repairs and cleaning of our campus.
RICHARD MARTINEZ
Classified – Lead Custodian
Pajaro Valley High
Ms. Richardson always made sure that her students had access to learning virtually, despite her own personal fears and challenges with the use of the technology. Her impact on student achievement was huge because she gave her students access to English curriculum that they needed to graduate, modeled perseverance, delivered a growth mindset and developed her instructional repertoire with new technological practices and tools that she may have never discovered
JODI RICHARDSON
Certificated – English Teacher
New School
Mr. Gilberto Alfaro is a committed educator who instills in students his passion for learning! His teaching is intentional and well planned out providing for a balance between lecturing, modeling, and practical application. Furthermore, Mr. Alfaro has a positive demeanor and an enthusiastic approach to teaching that students cannot help, but to become engaged with the learning, while seeking for more opportunities to extend their learning as they are guided by Mr. Alfaro.
GILBERTO ALFARO
Certificated – CTE Auto Instructor
Watsonville High
Mr. Armando Hernandez has done a fabulous job in ensuring that our site’s safety protocols are up to the best standards possible! From our Covid screening to our routine campus safety, Mondie has taken a leadership role and self-initiative on improving safety systems and processes for screening. He is able to pinpoint areas of concern and to provide solutions that only augment our site’s and district’s commitment to both student and staff safety at all times.
ARMANDO HERNANDEZ
Classified – Campus Security
Watsonville High
Mr. Bugayong consistently goes above and beyond to support the math acceleration of our students. As a result of his efforts, our site has increased the number of students taking Math 1. Additionally, Mr. Bugayong always finds ways to make math fun and relative for our students. He is creative, engages all learners, and is able to bring students up to grade level, regardless of their starting point. Over the years, Mr. Bugayong has helped many of our students find passion and excitement for math.
NICHOLAS BUGAYONG
Certificated – Mathematics Teacher
Rolling Hills Middle
Ms. Gomez is an educator that cares deeply about all students. This year Ms. Gomez developed a scheduling system to support one of our most vulnerable student groups--those in our International Academy Program. Recognizing the many challenges they face, Ms. Gomez developed the Centro de Apoyo as a resource to provide academic and language support. This creative idea has helped countless students feel welcomed and supported as they transition to Rolling Hills Middle School.
CARINA GOMEZ
Classified – Instructional Assistant International Academy
Rolling Hills Middle
Ms. Mayo’s high expectations promoted trust, belief and confidence among her students, her families and her colleagues. She began the year as a technological practitioner and will end the year as both a pedagogical innovator and a learning accelerator. This combination of traits promoted very high levels of student voice, engagement, communication, collaboration and critical thinking in her virtual classroom.
MAYO RUIZ
Certificated – 7th Grade �Humanities Teacher
Pajaro Middle
Lupe Rocha assured that all students have equitable access to literacy resources as she and her team redesigned not only the physical space of her library, but also her virtual library as well. Ms. Lupe’s focus on literacy will increase the number of students performing at or above grade level as we continue to prepare our students for college, career and life.
LUPE ROCHA
Classified – Library Media Tech
Pajaro Middle
Amanda has had a direct impact on sites and departments relationships, efficiency, and collaboration to improve department function. She has helped create an environment where staff feel comfortable and confident in the answers she provides. She is always willing to step up and take on additional responsibilities above and beyond her job duties. She completes these additional tasks with ease and always continues to meet her deadlines. Amanda is a huge asset to our Payroll team.
AMANDA GONZALEZ
Classified – Payroll Analyst
Payroll and Benefits
Judy has been instrumental in our MTSS/ Intervention strategy implementation. She has been helping us build a system of support to increase our number of students performing at or above grade level. Judy has helped lay the foundation for data analysis and using that to increase the efficiency of our intervention strategies
JUDY HEYBOER
Certificated – Learning Specialist
LC Teacher
Radcliff Elementary
Erika helped in creating a culture that is safe and supportive to her students and her students’ families. To ensure access and increased success of her students, she would continuously meet with students and parents and even did home visits. No one missed out on a quality education because of her commitment and perseverance.
ERIKA BOYD
Certificated –2nd Grade Teacher
Radcliff Elementary
Arefa has been instrumental in our parent outreach efforts at Radcliff during school closure. She helped organize our efforts for Youth Truth Surveys, which were very successful and helped increase our parent voice and input. Arefa’s impact has led to parent empowerment and connectedness with the Radcliff community. She has also helped assure parents that Radcliff had a plan to safely reopen.
AREFA CHAVARRIA
Classified – Office Manager
Radcliff Elementary
CC has created an environment that prompts positivity, friendship, and is always inclusive. CC has been able to implement, problem solve and teach both the RISE and the site SDC class. This past year, we were unable to hire for the additional SDC class. She has built a program that serves our highest social-emotional needs and some of our highest academic needs. In her effort, she has created a community where the students have friends and family within the learning environment.
CHRISTINA PETERS
Certificated – Elementary RISE and SDC Teacher
SELPA
BEHAVIORIST TEAM
SELPA
Heather Waltz, Heather Pint, Laura Martinez, Alex Barber, Taja Kelly, Jocelyn Huffaker and Chris Thomas
Our Behaviorist team has taken the lead on numerous initiatives over the last four years. Some of our first initiatives were the development of the therapeutic program (RISE) and implementation of evidence based practices in our Autism programs. These programs serve students with extreme social-emotional needs and students on the Autism spectrum. The increased focus and support from the Behaviorist on inclusive practices has also allowed our students to become a greater part of the school community and participate in activities with their peers.
Ms. Allen piloted general education instruction for in-person learning, with a heavy focus on social/emotional support for students through writing and art. Her work with this pilot helped the entire school see what was replicable; namely, continuing with social/emotional learning and hands-on projects in the afternoons. She found that students need explicit practice and time to speak and listen and practice other social skills. She also helped us see how to implement safety measures in a kid-friendly and emotionally-responsive way, especially for our youngest students.
CARYN ALLEN
Certificated – 1st Grade Teacher
Rio Del Mar Elementary
As a third grade teacher, Ms. Nosky’s ability to shift from technology as exposure to technology that drives instruction, has made an impact on her students and on the school as a whole. She shares valuable information, resources, tips and tricks to the staff on a regular basis. Ms. Nosky helped us learn the importance of balancing technology in the morning with hands-on experiences in the afternoon. We replicated this as a school as well as her focus on growth mindset and
social/emotional learning for in-person instruction.
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VIRGINIA NOSKY
Certificated – 3rd Grade Teacher
Rio Del Mar Elementary
Ms. Black is a beloved Behavioral Technician working in our NEST Inclusion program and is known on campus as a “go-to gal for strategies”. She has implemented effective check-in and check-out systems with our students to reduce behaviors and anxiety. She meets regularly with her inclusion teacher and BCBA to find solutions to challenges she faces with student behavior and maintains effective communication with general education teachers and staff. Ms. Black continues to expand her practice and refine her skills as a behavior technician through our Inclusion PLC.
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ROSIE BLACK
Classified – Behavior Tech
Rio Del Mar Elementary
Myrna effortlessly transitioned to hosting virtual trainings and using a new portal to meet the reporting requirements set by SB 1159. By facilitating all site and department trainings online, Myrna has been successful in addressing specific concerns and questions. This has greatly improved the Workers Compensation reporting processes for the District.
MYRNA WIGHT
Classified – Workers Compensation Analyst
Risk and Safety
If you asked me for an example of 21st century learning, I would walk straight over to Ms. Arnow’s classroom. Ms. Arnow has engaged her students in impactful community outreach and work. Students feel empowered, and know they can have as big an impact on our world as they can dream up… and encourages them to follow those dreams.
LAURA ARNOW
Classified – 4th Grade Teacher
Calabasas Elementary
Ms. Byington was the first TK teacher in the district to integrate SDC students from Duncan Holbert into her SEI class full time, and truly created an inclusive environment that valued all students. She integrates kinesthetic learning and motor skill development into student learning, making all students engaged and successful while at the same time meeting all IEP goals.
KENDALL BYINGTON
Certificated – TK Teacher
Calabasas Elementary
Ms. Manriquez took her work out of the classroom, and into the everyday lives of our most challenged students. She doesn’t just schedule field trips, she visits students, connects with them, and really values the them as our future. She gives students the hope and belief that there is a place for them to be successful in our community… and they don’t forget it.
MARISA MANRIQUEZ
Classified – IA RSP
Calabasas Elementary
DISTRICT’S INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR RECIPIENTS
1. Julie Nino Newman, Amesti, Cert.
2. Pamela Arbanas, Ann Soldo, Clsfd.
3. Laura Arnow, Calabasas, Cert.
4. Ashley Yoro Flowers, EA Hall, Clsfd.
5. Nicholas Bugayong, RHMS, Cert.
6. Monica Nowlin, AHS, Clsfd.
7. Gilberto Alfaro, WHS, Cert.
8. Jovita Molina, Alianza, Clsfd.
11. Yolanda Melgoza, Migrant Ed, Cert.
THANK YOU!