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Release: Two County Teachers of the Year 2025 Announced

Teachers from Robla and Twin Rivers Advance to State Competition

SCOE Press Release
Posted August 26, 2024

Contact: Xanthi Soriano, Executive Director, Communications
Office: (916) 228-2713 • Cell (916) 261-6219 • Email: xsoriano@scoe.net

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, August 26, 2024

 

Sacramento, CA—A 5th-grade STEM teacher and a 10th–12th-grade AP Environmental Science, AP Physics, and Physics of the Universe teacher are the two Sacramento County Teachers of the Year 2025. The Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) revealed the winners Friday evening at its countywide teacher recognition ceremony.

Joshua Weeks is a 5th-grade STEM teacher at Bell Avenue Elementary School (Robla SD). Marc Vankeuren, Ph.D. is a 10th–12th-grade AP Environmental Science, AP Physics, and Physics of the Universe teacher at Grant Union High School (Twin Rivers USD). Both teachers advance to the statewide competition where five teachers will be chosen as California Teachers of the Year.

After the names of the two winners were revealed at the ceremony, Sacramento County Board of Education President O. Alfred Brown, Sr., presented the newly named County Teachers of the Year with the Elinor Lincoln Hickey Award of Merit: the highest honor the Board bestows. The Sacramento Scottish Rite also continued its long-running tradition of awarding perpetual trophies to the winners. Throughout the coming school year, all the district Teachers of the Year will be honored at events.

Related

About the County Teachers of the Year Program

A selection committee comprised of education professionals—including previous Sacramento County Teachers of the Year—interviewed and read a series of essays from 14 local Teachers of the Year. After tallying the scores, the two with the highest rose to the top as the winners. All local educational agencies are invited to nominate a teacher to participate in the program each year. (Large districts are eligible to nominate two teachers.) The program is presented by SCOE in partnership with the Sacramento Kings, the Sacramento Republic FC, the Sacramento River Cats, SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, and the Sacramento Scottish Rite.

About the Sacramento County Office of Education

The Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE), plays a leadership role in the delivery of quality education to the students in Sacramento County, which is home to the California state capital comprising 1.4 million residents and seven cities. SCOE directly educates more than 30,000 children and adults each year—including thousands of district teachers who attend training sessions and workshops. It provides support services to more than 247,000 students in 13 school districts, four of which are some of the state’s largest. SCOE provides technical assistance, curriculum and instructional support, staff development, legal and financial advice, and oversight to Sacramento County school districts. Its programs and services are available to schools, districts, and other county offices of education across the region.

Considered a leader of the Capital Service Region—a 10-county area consisting of Alpine, Colusa, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sierra, Sutter, Yolo, and Yuba Counties—SCOE is one of 58 county offices of education in California. SCOE staff work year-round providing services which complement and supplement those offered by public school districts in Sacramento County.

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