Teachers from Waterford High, Aspire Charter head to state Teacher of the Year contest
Waterford High School teacher Helen Aleksani and Summit Charter Academy teacher Sarah Curry will go on to the 2016 State Teachers of the Year competition, with results to be announced in October.
Four teachers were selected as 2015 Stanislaus County Teachers of the Year for the program, announced in the spring by the Modesto Rotary Club and the Stanislaus County Office of Education. They are Curry in the primary division; Andrea Fuentes from Orchard Elementary School in the Sylvan Union School District for the grades 4-6 division; Aimee Hirsch from Mae Hensley Junior High in the Ceres Unified School District for the junior high division; and Aleksani for the high school division.
The Jane Johnston Civility Award went to Matthew Weinheimer from Hughes Elementary School in the Empire Union School District.
Seventy-eight teachers from 17 of Stanislaus County’s 25 school districts were nominated by their principals. A selection committee of Rotarians and educators visited the classrooms of 24 semifinalists, then narrowed the field to 12 finalists and the four county winners.
The two going on to the state contest were selected through an interview process.
She leads by example and inspires others to follow.
Summit Charter Academy Principal Jamey Olney about Sarah Curry
Curry taught kindergarten in 2014-15 at Summit, an Aspire Public Schools charter campus in south Modesto. She will teach the same students this fall in first grade, Summit Principal Jamey Olney said Monday. Having students for two years is standard practice at Summit.
As K-1 lead teacher and peer coach, Curry holds teacher meetings on student progress and helps fellow teachers with insights and strategies, Olney said in Curry’s nomination.
“She invites her students to read with her at the Ceres Library over the summer to enrich their reading skills and hosts pizza parties as informal gatherings to get acquainted with families. She has presented Family Literacy evening and Saturday sessions to give parents tips on supporting their child’s reading,” Olney wrote of Curry, calling her a cheerleader and a motivator.
She’s very strict and she’s relentless about getting her kids to do the work.
Waterford High Principal Ignacio Ramirez about Helen Aleksani
Aleksani has taught math at Waterford High in the Waterford Unified School District since 2008, said Waterford High Principal Ignacio Ramirez.
In 2013-14, Aleksani piloted Common Core integrated math I for the district, and in 2014-15, she piloted the integrated math II class and taught Advanced Placement calculus.
“She’s really taken the leadership in our math department to explore the challenges and the benefits of the new math expectations,” Ramirez said Tuesday.
The state selection process includes application reviews in September and site visits for semifinalists in October.
This story was originally published July 1, 2015 at 3:58 PM with the headline "Teachers from Waterford High, Aspire Charter head to state Teacher of the Year contest."