Names of Note: Four win Teacher of the Year in Stanislaus. Junior high students excel
Stanislaus County has named its Teachers of the Year for the 2020-21 academic year.
The county Office of Education and its co-sponsors presented the awards in a COVID-safe ceremony that combined two live gatherings and a Zoom call.
The results from the 22nd annual event:
- Pre-kindergarten to third grade: Bob Elms of La Rosa Elementary School in Ceres. The other finalists were Cindy Bellinger of Cloverland Elementary in Oakdale and Ronald Putnam of Crowell Elementary in Turlock.
- Fourth to sixth grade: Carlos Perez of Empire Elementary. The other finalists were Mary White of Fair Oaks Elementary in Oakdale and Jill Kelley of Agnes Baptist Elementary in Modesto.
- Junior high school: Elizabeth Holtan of Cesar Chavez Junior High in Ceres. The other finalists were Christie Stokman Wagner of Mae Hensley Junior High in Ceres and Janet Hernandez of Creekside Middle School in Patterson.
- High school: Ismael Mercado of Riverbank High. The other finalists were Renee Melo of Central Valley High in Ceres and Matthew Soderlund of Gregori High in Modesto.
Kelley received the Jane Johnston Civility Award, named for an assistant county superintendent who died suddenly in 2012.
The four Teachers of the Year received $1,000 each and will go on to compete at the state level.
The county office put on the contest with the Modesto Rotary Club and Mocse Credit Union. A committee narrowed the 74 nominees to 24 semi-finalists and then the 12 finalists.
Ross tops Academic Pentathlon
Ross Middle School in Hughson won the 16th annual Stanislaus County Academic Pentathlon, held online due to the pandemic.
The event tests junior high school students in math, fine arts, language, science and social studies. They compete via speeches, written tests and essays. This year’s theme was the Cold War.
Prescott Junior High School in Modesto placed second, and Hickman Middle School was third.
The students competed at three levels based on their grade point averages. The first-place winners were:
- Kaveri Gupta of Prescott in the Honors division (3.8 to 4.0)
Kayden Perez of Ross in the Scholastic division (3.25 to 3.79)
Jacob Mullany of Blaker-Kinser Junior High in Ceres in the Varsity division (3.24 and below)
Lavanya Bansal of Prescott was the speech champion. These students had the most points for their teams:
Jacob Mullany of Blaker-Kinser
Andrea Padilla of Denair Middle School
Austin Taylor of Hickman
Joseph Yakligian of Oakdale Junior High
Kaveri Gupta of Prescott
Kayden Perez of Ross
The Pentathlon is sponsored by the county Office of Education and the Education Foundation of Stanislaus County.
Names of Note recognizes people and organizations for their contribution to their communities. Submit items to jholland@modbee.com.
This story was originally published May 15, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
