Surrounded by beaming family and colleagues, 22 teachers came to Town & Gown last week to be honored as Teachers of the Year for Los Angeles Unified School District.
Speaking to them, Karen Symms Gallagher, the Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean of the 海角论坛 School of Education, congratulated the teachers on their great teaching鈥攁 feat for which there is no formula.
鈥淲hile many of us have felt the impact of exceptional teachers, we as a society still have trouble articulating the qualities that translate good teaching into success,鈥 Gallagher said. As board chair for the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation, working on making uniform standards for good teacher preparation, she would know.
Yet just as ambiguous is the route that great teachers take into their profession. As a child, Jennifer Tr贸chez MacLean, one of those honored as a Teacher of the Year, had planned on being a scientist.
鈥淚 was always curious about the things around me,鈥 MacLean said. She didn鈥檛 expect to end up graduating from 海角论坛 in 2001 with a master鈥檚 in science education. 鈥淚 was pre-med, but life throws little curveballs at you and I ended up working at the California Science Center and the Natural History Museum. And I realized my love of science and my love of working with kids. Teaching is where I had to be.鈥
MacLean got an emergency teaching credential and started at Foshay Learning Center, one of the schools now in USC鈥檚 Neighborhood Academic Initiative.
That was 21 years ago. Now she鈥檚 a 5th grade teacher at Gates Street Elementary and a National Board Certified Teacher invested in teaching her students about the power of science.
There are more than 26,000 teachers in Los Angeles; about a thousand of them received nominations for this year鈥檚 Teachers of the Year awards, according to George McKenna, the board of education member representing District 1. MacLean is one of two Trojans , along with Susan Kacvinsky MSW 鈥11.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely an honor, and definitely a privilege,鈥 MacLean said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not only representing what I鈥檝e done, but representing all the principals who have supported me and my colleagues who have been there with me as we do different things to advance instruction in our classrooms, and I think of all the children鈥攖hat鈥檚 what makes it overwhelming.鈥
In an unexpected career, becoming a Teacher of the Year may be a platform to something even more unexpected. After all, 2016 National Teacher of the Year Jahana Hayes in the U.S. House of Representatives.
MacLean laughed that she鈥檚 open to new opportunities, but now it鈥檚 mid-July.
鈥淚鈥檓 already planning for this school year,鈥 she said.
