The San Joaquin County Office of Education (SJCOE) will recognize the five finalists for 2020 San Joaquin County Teacher of the Year in online tributes throughout the week leading up to the announcement of the winner on Friday on the SJCOE Facebook page.
These five finalists represent the best of the best in education and were selected from a pool of outstanding teachers nominated from schools across the county. The winner will be the San Joaquin County nominee for California Teacher of the Year and receive a $1,000 prize. Each finalist receives a prize of $400. Prizes are donated by Premier Community Credit Union.
The SJCOE will reveal the winner in a video announcement on the SJCOE Facebook page on Friday, July 17, at 5 p.m.
In the days before the announcement, come back to this page or look on the SJCOE's Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts for links to webpages highlighting each of the five finalists for San Joaquin County Teacher of the Year.
On Tuesday, July 14, we will highlight the nominees for kindergarten through third-grade teachers:
April Egusquiza, Farmington Elementary School, Escalon Unified School District
Click here for the webpage highlighting April Egusquiza.
Laura Sudderth, Lincoln Elementary School, Manteca Unified School District
Click here for the webpage highlighting Laura Sudderth.
On Wednesday, July 15, we will highlight the nominee from teachers of grades five through eight:
Linda Davis, Shasta Elementary School, Manteca Unified School District
Click here for the webpage highlighting Linda Davis.
On Thursday, July 16, we will highlight the nominees for high school teachers:
Rachel Hernandez, Special Education Programs, San Joaquin County Office of Education, teaching at Sierra High School, Manteca Unified School District
Click here for the webpage highlighting Rachel Hernandez.
Laura LaRue, Bear Creek High School, Lodi Unified School District
Click here for the webpage highlighting Laura LaRue.
The county Classified School Employees of the Year winners were announced earlier this year. Each winner receives $400 from Premier Community Credit Union and is nominated to be California School Employee of the Year. They are:
CHILD NUTRITION
Rodney Carruesco
Child Nutrition Department Delivery Driver, Stockton Unified School District
MAINTENANCE, OPERATIONS, AND FACILITIES
Maria Barragan
Sierra High School Custodian, Manteca Unified School District
OFFICE AND TECHNICAL
Raquel Babauta
District Office Secretary, Ripon Unified School District
PARA-EDUCATOR AND INSTRUCTIONAL ASSISTANCE
Rose Craighead
Paraprofessional, Shasta Elementary School, Manteca Unified School District
SUPPORT SERVICES AND SECURITY
Veronica Lynch
Communications Specialist, Stockton Unified School District
About Teacher of the Year and Classified Employee of the Year:
In 1972, California began recognizing outstanding teachers for their dedication and commitment. Since that time, three County Teachers of the Year, Paulette Bogetti (1992), Jeff Wright (2001), and Art Coleman (2003) went on to be selected as California Teacher of the Year. Each district, through their superintendent’s office, may submit up to three candidates for consideration for the County Teacher of the Year. For more information about California Teacher of the Year, go to www.cde.ca.gov/ta/sr/ct/. For more information about California Classified School Employee of the Year, go to www.cde.ca.gov/ta/sr/cl/.
About Premier Community Credit Union:
Premier Community Credit Union was founded in 1931 in the midst of the Great Depression. A handful of local educators gathered to form a nonprofit, financial cooperative – Stockton Teachers Credit Union – to provide much needed personal financial services to educators. Over the past 81 years, the credit union has grown and thrived, while maintaining its strong ties to the education community.
To share the financial services with other parts of the community, the credit union has expanded the benefits of membership to all of San Joaquin County communities. While it expanded, Premier Community Credit Union has always been dedicated to the education community in San Joaquin County – one of the reasons why they are proudly sponsoring the Classified Employees and Teacher of the Year Awards Celebration Dinner. Standing true to the credit union philosophy of “people helping people,” Premier Community Credit Union is ready to service the needs of the education community as well as the broad communities it serves in San Joaquin County. For more information, visit www.premierccu.org.