Photo by Roy Persinko
Story by Isaac Cox
Cotsen Foundation for the ART of TEACHING fellows Courtney Smith and Jane Wong have been named county level Teachers of the Year. Smith, a Tustin Unified School District teacher, received this prestigious recognition from The Orange County Department of Education. The Santa Cruz County Office of Education feted Wong, who hails from the Pajaro Valley School District. Teacher of the Year is an honor that spotlights remarkable instruction inside the classroom and applauds innovative classroom practices and professional commitment.
During the ART of TEACHING’s 11th Annual Conference, the Executive Director, Jerry Harris, presented commemorative plaques to the two educators to celebrate this significant achievement.
“The ART of TEACHING has the privilege of working with hundreds of dedicated teachers who create magic in their classrooms everyday. The selection of two Cotsen alumni as county level teachers of the year is a powerful reflection of the caliber of ART of TEACHING participants. This is a very special honor,” Harris said.
Smith was one of five Tustin Unified teachers to be named by the Orange County Department of Education in the last six years and will be recognized in the 2016-2017 California Teachers of the Year Program. Having observed first-hand the power that an outstanding teacher has on the lives of her students, Smith has dedicated herself to refining her craft, with the goal of effectively reaching all students.
“Having the ability to help children overcome obstacles provides some of the greatest motivation for entering the teaching profession,” Smith said. “My mom, who was a teacher at my elementary school, always welcomed students into her classroom before and after school…My mom’s project-based teaching style and ability to spark an enthusiasm for learning strongly influenced my decision to become a teacher… My greatest rewards in teaching occur when I witness true engagement paired with the exhilaration of learning. ”
Smith was an ART of TEACHING fellow from 2014 to 2016. She finds that her experiences with the ART of TEACHING continue to have a significant influence on her and her colleagues at school, “Although our fellowship has ended,” Smith commented, “my group is committed to continuing our inquiry meetings, believing that we are ‘better together.”
The second honoree, Jane Wong, began her teaching career at Mintie White Elementary School, the same school she attended when she was a fourth-grade student. Her role models in life have been the teachers who inspired her to be brave and take risks. She describes them as being expert confident teachers who opened their hearts and classrooms to show others how to guide their students to be brave readers and writers.
Wong has continued to develop young minds for the past 26 years. Over half of those years she spent teaching kindergarten because of her interest in emergent literacy, English language development, primary language instruction in Spanish and the collaborative aspect of team teaching in a shared classroom setting.
“Participating as a Cotsen ART of TEACHING fellow from 2011-2014 stands out as the defining moment in my career,” Wong said. “The experience I had implementing the workshop model of reading and writing instruction at Mintie White Elementary School, through the support I received from my Cotsen coaches LaNette Maiorello and Lillian Berla, gave me the confidence to guide my peers in setting up rigorous and effective reading workshop classrooms…Each and every kindergartner can and will develop the love of reading, reading stamina and meaningful partner interactions to raise achievement. The best form of intervention is early intervention. The best form of early intervention is effective first teaching.”
The Cotsen Foundation congratulates and salutes Jane and Courtney. These outstanding educators embody the ideals of the ART of TEACHING, and the Foundation is pleased to support them along with the hundreds of colleagues in pursuit of instructional excellence.
Previous County Teachers of the Year include:
(Between the years 2013 and 2016)
- Janis Leach—Tustin Unified School District, Arroyo Elementary School, 2015
- Erin Brady— Long Beach Unified School District, Tincher Preparatory School, 2013
If you know of a Cotsen teacher that has been recognized as a County Teacher of the Year and isn’t on this list, please email us at info@cotsen.org and we will be sure to add them. Thank you!