2018-2019 Contra Costa County Teachers of the Year finalists named

Two of the four will be chosen and announced at annual dinner in September

The following four teachers have been named as the 2018-2019 Contra Costa County Teacher of the Year (TOY) Finalists: Shanna Gagnon, San Ramon Valley Unified School District; Kelly Perkins, Mt. Diablo Unified School District; Rosie Reid, Mt. Diablo Unified School District; and Andrea Salas, Martinez Unified School District. Two of these four finalists will be chosen in late September and will represent Contra Costa County in the California State TOY Program.

For the entire listing of the 22 Contra Costa County TOYs, class of 2018-2019, please see below.

With a slight detour towards her teaching career, Shanna Gagnon started in the business world right after college. Though she was quite successful in her corporate work, as an accountant and later as a buyer, she felt it lacked purpose. Fortunately, for the six-year history/iQuest teacher and her students, she found her purpose in teaching. For the past five years she has been teaching at California High School, in San Ramon. Before coming to California High, she taught history for two years with the Martinez and the Acalanes School districts.

Kelly Perkins, a life skills and remedial math and language arts instructor, chose teaching special education classes because

she enjoys guiding her students to become independent thinkers and learners. For the past 10 years, Perkins has been a special day class teacher at Ygnacio Valley High School, in Concord. In addition, her 27-year teaching career includes special education instruction for two elementary schools, as well as continuing to serve as an adjunct professor for the Education Specialist Program at St. Mary’s College, in Moraga, since 1988.

Rosanne “Rosie” Reid was certainly destined to teach English, with her enormous appetite to read books from an early age. Reid was the best customer when the book mobile would come to town, and she would always walk away with a new tower of books to take on. For the past two years, Reid has taught English/ELD at Northgate High School, in Walnut Creek. Her 16 years of instruction includes teaching high school English courses at Piedmont High School, in Piedmont and John O’Connell High School, in San Francisco.

Andrea Salas grew up with an absolute love for her time in school, so much so, she “held class” for her fellow neighborhood

kids on her front lawn, during the summers. Following college, Salas began her teaching career with Teach for America, where the Los Angeles native brought her education love and skills up north to the Oakland Unified School District’s classrooms for five years. Next, she began teaching mathematics, statistics and computer science at Alhambra High School, in Martinez, and has been there for the past 19 years.

The county’s TOY program is directed by the Contra Costa County Office of Education (CCCOE). With such a high caliber of teaching professionals to draw from, the CCCOE’s TOY program uses a three-stage selection process, with a point and percentage system to determine the final candidates as follows:

I Application Screening:

On April 13, a committee of 10 judges, representing the county’s education, business, and public-sector partners carefully reviewed the TOY representative applications submitted by the school districts. This committee independently read and rated each application. After the application screening and scoring were completed, four teachers will be selected to advance to the next two phases as finalists.

II Classroom Observation and Interview:

April 24-May 25, a small committee of education specialists and business partners will observe the four finalists interacting with their students. Immediately following, the committee will interview the candidates, discussing topics such as their teaching philosophy and techniques.

III Speech Presentation:

On July 24, the four TOY finalists will each give a three- to five-minute speech to another panel of a dozen educators, business, and public-sector representatives who will judge the finalists on their speech and presentation skills.

On the evening of September 27, 2018, all 22 TOYs, accompanied by their families, friends, and co-workers (an audience of close to 500) will be honored at the annual Contra Costa County Teacher of the Year Dinner Celebration, held at the Hilton Concord. Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools Karen Sakata, who serves as master of ceremonies, will introduce all 22 TOYs to the attendees. This will be followed by the four finalists giving their three- to five-minute speeches (same speeches given in July) to the filled banquet room. Finally, the night will come to a dramatic conclusion with the announcement of the two 2018-2019 Contra Costa County Teachers of the Year.

Contra Costa County’s school districts 2018-19 Teachers of the Year

Currently, there are approximately 8,401 teachers educating more than 176,000 students in Contra Costa County’s public schools. To recognize their efforts and bring much-deserved honor to the teaching profession, the participating school districts in the county recently named their Teachers of the Year (TOY) representatives. (See list below.) The upcoming school year’s 22 TOYs represent 17 (of 18) Contra Costa County school districts, the Contra Costa Community College District, and the Contra Costa County Office of Education (CCCOE). Most of these representatives, those who teach grades K thru 12, are eligible to compete in the Contra Costa County TOY competition. The two top teachers in the county TOY program will represent Contra Costa County in the California State TOY Program this coming fall.

The county’s TOY program is directed by the CCCOE. With such a high caliber of teaching professionals to draw from, (21 teachers eligible), the CCCOE’s TOY program uses a three-stage selection process, with a point and percentage system to determine the final candidates as follows:

2018-2019 Contra Costa County Teacher of the Year Representatives:

• Lynn Alamillo, San Ramon Valley Unified School District, Bella Vista Elementary
• Glen Barker, Contra Costa County Office of Education, Northgate High School
• Joanne Chen, West Contra Costa Unified School District, Mira Vista School
• Shanna Gagnon, San Ramon Valley Unified School District, California High School
• Cherie Giannotti, John Swett Unified School District, Carquinez Middle School
• Elizabeth Gonzalez, Liberty Union High School District, Heritage High School
• Bonnie Ha, Walnut Creek School District, Buena Vista Elementary School
• Katie Halberg, Brentwood Union School District, Mary Casey Black Elementary School
• Carol Levin, Orinda Union School District, Glorietta Elementary School
• Cecil Nasworthy, CC Community College District, Los Medanos College
• Barry Penning, Byron Union School District, Discovery Bay Elementary School
• Kelly Perkins, Mt. Diablo Unified School District, Ygnacio Valley High School
• Erik Radkiewicz, West Contra Costa Unified School District, Pinole Valley High School
• Rosie Reid, Mt. Diablo Unified School District, Northgate High School
• Michael Ruibal, Pittsburg Unified School District, Black Diamond High School
• Andrea Salas, Martinez Unified School District, Alhambra High School
• George Seymour, Oakley Union Elementary School District, O’Hara Park Middle School
• Michelle Stark, Antioch Unified School District, Deer Valley High School
• Karlene Steelman, Moraga School District, Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School
• Katherine Walton, Acalanes Union High School District, Acalanes High School
• Scott Westphal, Lafayette School District, Burton Valley Elementary School
• Melissa Anne Wunschel, Knightsen Elementary School District, Knightsen Elementary

Note regarding eligible participants:

• Seventeen of the eighteen Contra Costa County school districts represented, and the CCCOE are participating in this year’s TOY program.
• Each year, one instructor from Contra Costa Community College District is submitted to the TOY program for his/her outstanding body of work with their designated college. The colleges rotate each year between Diablo Valley, Los Medanos, and Contra Costa. (These instructors do not compete in the State Teacher of the Year competition.) This year is Los Medaonos College’s turn.
• Due to the larger number of students and teachers in their districts, West Contra Costa USD, Mt. Diablo USD, and San Ramon Valley USD are allowed to submit two TOY candidates

“We are extremely proud of these tremendous educators,” said Karen Sakata, Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools. “They were thoughtfully chosen to represent their schools and districts, and truly represent what is best about public education.”

Follow Contra Costa County’s Teacher of the Year program on Twitter: #cocotoy