Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/792936
www.ParentingOC.com 44 Parenting OC Magazine | March 2017 TOP TEACHERS OF ORANGE COUNTY GATE Educator of the Year Matt Holland Stoddard Elementary School, Anaheim Matt Holland is a 3rd Grade GATE teacher with a full range of students from Autistic to the extremely bright to the struggling reader. The National Board Certifi ed teacher uses the Engineering Design Process and has trained the staff to use tech in their classroom, how to implement Project Lead the Way curricu- lum, and modeled classroom dialogues with his 3rd graders for district training. In his Science of Flight program, students study the principles of fl ight: lift, drag, gravity, thrust, design. The students then design, build, test, and redesign an aircraft. Students test their airplanes as great community within the class meets high competition, a testament to his high teacher IQ. His students use Hopscotch to design and program an aesthetically beautiful, as well as, functional video game. His Simple and Compound Machines units has students design machines using pulleys and levers with a fi nal task to rescue an animal from a ditch. Special Needs Educator of the Year Cheryl Smith J.H. McGaugh Elementary School, Seal Beach Cheryl Smith's heart is as much a part of her work as anything else. Cheryl serves as a second grade teacher in a special education/general education "Co-Lab" where students with exceptional needs are edu- cated in an environment where they have access to not only grade level curriculum and instruction, but also great role models in their grade level peers. They occupy the same space; share the same materials; share instructional strategies, celebrations, and teachers — the students often aren't even aware of who might be getting special education help due to the seamless nature of the teaching. Mrs. Smith believes that high expectations for ALL students yield wonderful results. After a colleague suffered a sudden serious health issue, Cheryl Smith stepped up without reservation to facilitate the assessments and parent meetings for a classroom of students that were not her own. Dignifi ed, respected, and child-centered are high on the list of qualities describing Mrs. Cheryl Smith, along with an unmatched level of commitment. Project-Based Learning Educator of the Year Vedha Muthu St. John's Episcopal School, Rancho Santa Margarita Always smiling, Vedha Muthu's passion for teaching is infectious. Writing and performing songs to help students remember diffi cult concepts. Mrs. Muthu combines artistic expression, philosophical refl ections, technology, and engineering with traditional science concepts to empower students to take risks and be creative. Recognized by the National Association of Independent Schools, one of Vedha's featured proj- ect uses only rubber bands, PVC pipe, cardboard tubes, hair claws, lanyards, and popsicle sticks to build a prosthetic hand. Applying knowledge of how the muscular/skeletal systems work, the hand performed functions like picking up a grape without crushing it; lifting a ten-pound weight; catching and throwing a ball. Another; build a structure that can hold two textbooks at least eight inches off the table using only four pieces of printer paper and tape -- a vehicle to understand and appreciate our legs' bone structure and how they hold us up. She is a strong student advocate, and they often go to her for advice and wise counsel. History-to-Life Educator of the Year Peter Lark Orange Lutheran High School, Orange A 6'8" man stands in front of a class. He begins to bend at the waist, getting low to the ground. Arms and hands extend, gesturing furiously. His eyes widen, pace and volume of speech increase. At this mo- ment, every student is glued to this man, which means every student is engaged in learning. Each class begins with a "joke of the day". Once the kids have stopped groaning, he shares a "this date in history" fact. He relates historical fact to a real life story so the students get a different perspective and better un- derstand the material. Pete seems like a unique recipe, mixing the spontaneous humor of Robin Williams, the brilliant mind of Sheldon Cooper, the voice of James Earl Jones, the storytelling of Charles Dickens, the captivating delivery of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the warmth of Mr. Rogers. A journey in Pete's classroom is like an epic tale. Story after story pour out, fi lled with laughter and joy.