Fulfill San Diego County’s Lecturers of the 12 months

Heather McClain

Heather McClain

(Courtesy image)

Jacquelyn Jourdane

Jacquelyn Jourdane

(Courtesy photograph)

Laura Reyes

Laura Reyes

(Courtesy photo)

Tiffany Jokerst

Tiffany Jokerst

(Courtesy photo)

Xye Sanders

Xye Sanders

(Courtesy picture)

Five San Diego County Instructors of the Calendar year who were being exemplary in the way they led their college students — specifically all through a 12 months when the COVID-19 pandemic profoundly disrupted instruction — were introduced Friday in San Diego.

The five — Heather McClain, Jacquelyn Flores Jourdane, Laura Reyes, Tiffany Lynn Jokerst, and Xylena Sanders — had been preferred from 33 nominees introduced by the county’s faculty districts.

They ended up acknowledged at a particular reception held at Deck 655 as part of the 31st once-a-year “Cox Provides: Salute to Instructors,” sponsored by San Diego County Credit score Union. They will now depict the region at the California Trainer of the 12 months method.

The county’s Academics of the 12 months are:

Heather McClain, 2nd quality, James Dukes Elementary, Ramona, Ramona Unified Faculty District. “Her classroom is a safe and sound haven for learning she tends to make particular connections with each pupil,” wrote RUSD Superintendent Theresa Ketchem-Grace in her letter supporting McClain’s nomination. “Students by no means fail to remember their experience in Mrs. McClain’s course and each calendar year James Dukes receives lots of, quite a few requests from moms and dads to have their young children put in her class.” McClain is a 23-year teaching veteran, 22 of them at James Dukes. In her application, she famous, she was mindful of the COVID-19 pandemic’s consequences on her teaching: “I should be conscious of (students’) ever-growing emotional demands as perfectly as their tutorial requirements. I am targeted on how to convert this time into a teachable moment. I make them chuckle as we discover. I inform stories about my unconventional childhood and how I turned tough times into anything I have realized from and will expand from, just like they will.”

Jacquelyn Flores Jourdane, next quality, San Altos Elementary, Lemon Grove, Lemon Grove College District. “Her college students not only make large strides academically but her training style proceeds to assist the social and psychological developmental requirements of our assorted inhabitants in Lemon Grove,” wrote Kelli Yale, a 1st-grade teacher at San Altos, in assist of her colleague’s nomination. “Jackie was a single of the initial instructors to pilot Breakout Rooms in Zoom for college students to have the option to produce collaborative discussions that come about obviously in human being but have to have excess aid on Zoom.” Jourdane has been at San Altos for three yrs and has been instructing for 10 a long time. She cited her expertise in a varied family expanding up as assisting her carry equity and empathy into her educating: “All students are capable if they are supplied the resources and help. By concentrating on equity we understand about all sides of record. Learners discover how these histories relate to social injustice currently and get ready them to grow to be foreseeable future leaders.”

Laura Reyes, 1st grade, Central Elementary, Escondido, Escondido Union Faculty District. Reyes delivers 23 years of practical experience to her task, like nine decades at Central Elementary. Instructing during a pandemic, wrote Principal Crystal Underhill, “has only invigorated Laura to locate new and artistic approaches to ensure her pupils have a productive college calendar year.” In Reyes’ classroom, she wrote in her software, “children feel free of charge to consider threats and accept worries. … When small children never know the answer to a question, they look for the aid of classmates by politely asking for assist. Leaders action up to offer you help. No rewards are expected. We are brave. We have grit we never stop.”

Tiffany Lynn Jokerst, arithmetic and engineering, grades 9-12, West Hills Significant School, Santee, Grossmont Union Substantial University District. “Tiffany Jokerst is a single of the most perfectly-rounded and passionate academics … I have worked with over the years,” wrote Dan McDowell, district director of studying and innovation, of Jokerst, who has been training for 15 decades, 6 at West Hills. “She places her college students initial, cares deeply about anyone about her, goes to any duration to offer assistance, and exemplifies leadership.” Instructing students in human being and at household was challenging, wrote Jokerst in her software, but she furnished day-to-day Zoom classes, tutorials, and a “fun hour” each week so learners could link practically. “I used this challenging second in hybrid understanding to product adaptability and to make group within just the classroom by empowering students as conclusion makers.”

Xylena “Xye” Sanders, math main, math and language arts intervention, grades 7-8, Cesar Chavez Center University, Oceanside Unified College District.
Sanders has 19 a long time of encounter instructing at Cesar Chavez. “She brings to a team the capacity to explain and employ a new plan in a painless way,” wrote Kathy O’Leary, a retired educator, in her nomination letter. “She has created remarkable lessons to use with her unique education and learning students on Zoom. … There are no obstructions to studying as much as she is concerned. She will find a way to train and boost success for her pupils.” Sanders observed that answering students’ inquiries — when modeling boundaries — “provides me the prospect to be vulnerable, via a misspoken phrase, embarrassing respond to, or something else that may possibly enable me establish individual interactions with my students. Building community inside of and exterior of my classroom is a incredibly significant facet of my training observe.”

In partnership with the San Diego County Business of Training, Cox Communications will deliver a one-hour “Cox Presents: Salute to Teachers” tv exclusive to understand community instructors, highlight the Lecturers of the Year, and share highlights from the reception. The demonstrate will air at 9 p.m. Oct. 17 on YurView Network (Cox Channel 4 and 1004 in higher definition).