The current Sacramento County Teachers of the Year have now earned statewide recognition. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell has selected Shannan Brown and Kadhir Rajagopal as two of the five California Teachers of the Year for 2011.
Brown teaches 5th grade at Edison Elementary School in the San Juan Unified District and Rajagopal teaches mathematics at Grant Union High School in the Twin Rivers Unified School District. Both were selected in September as the 2011 Sacramento County Teachers of the Year. As California Teachers of the Year, they will be honored at a special recognition event to be held in the spring.
"I see it as my job to find ways to not only tap into students' potential, but to guide them in seeing it in themselves," Brown said. She has taught for 11 years, mostly in the fifth grade at Edison Elementary.
"My ultimate goal every day is to get students to master the objective I have taught during class before they leave my room," said Rajagopal. He has taught mathematics for seven years at Grant High.
Also chosen as California Teachers of the Year:
- Darin Curtis: teaches eighth-grade physical education at Tierra del Sol Middle School, Lakeside Union School District, in Lakeside (San Diego County)
- Beverly Gonzalez: teaches fourth-grade mathematics and writing at Santa Fe School, Baldwin Park Unified School District, in Baldwin Park (Los Angeles County)
- Jennifer Kelly: teaches eighth-grade physical science at Middletown Middle School, Middletown Unified School District, in Middletown (Lake County)
One teacher is selected to serve as the state's representative to the National Teacher of the Year Program. Superintendent O'Connell chose Curtis to represent California in the national competition. The National Teacher of the Year winner will be selected next spring by the Council of Chief State School Officers. Candidates will be honored at a White House ceremony.
The National Teacher of the Year winner will be selected in the spring of 2011 by a panel convened by the Council of Chief State School Officers. All candidates in the program will be honored at a White House ceremony.
The Sacramento County Teachers of the Year will be honored at ARCO Arena when the Sacramento Kings host the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, February 4, 2011. The Sacramento River Cats will also host a special Teacher Appreciation Night at Raley Field on Monday, May 2, 2011, when they host the Salt Lake Bees.
The Sacramento County Teachers of the Year Program is presented by the Sacramento County Office of Education in partnership with Maloof Sports and Entertainment, the Sacramento River Cats, the Intel Corporation Folsom, and the Sacramento Scottish Rite Bodies of Freemasonry.