Long Beach Teachers Among Top in L.A. County

Two Long Beach teachers were among 16 awarded Los Angeles County Teachers of the Year this weekend, in what was described as the largest such event in the state and in the nation.

Erin Brady, of Holmes Elementary, and Kenneth Fisher, of Cabrillo High School, were the two Long Beach Unified School District awardees. The remainder are listed below.

The teachers were named this weekend at a ceremony celebrating education excellence, the Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schools announced Saturday morning.

The 16 were selected from a field of 71 teachers who participated in the 31st Annual Los Angeles County Teachers of the Year competition. All participants had been recently selected as teacher of the year by their respective school districts The winning educators will serve as standard bearers for the teaching profession and their more than 76,000 classroom colleagues across Los Angeles County.

They come from a diversity of school locales, including Long Beach, Arcadia, Covina, Culver City, Glendora, Lakewood, Los Angeles, Santa Fe Springs, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Monrovia, Diamond Bar and South Pasadena. The county competition, overseen by the L.A. County Office of Education, is the largest competition of its kind in the state and nation.

L.A. County Superintendent of Schools Arturo Delgado said it is part of the oldest and most prestigious honors contest in the United States for public school teachers.

``These are dedicated women and men who everyday make the most of a precious opportunity to make a positive difference in the lives of their students,'' Delgado said at a banquet Friday.

In addition to being interviewed, contestants submitted essays, lesson plans and other materials to judging panels comprised of education peers. The 16 L.A. County winners automatically advance with other county titlists from around the state to the California Teachers of the Year competition this fall. The state is scheduled to announce its five winners in November. One of them will be chosen to represent California in the National Teacher of the Year contest next spring.

The 16 L.A. County Teachers of the Year received a $1,000 cash prize courtesy of the California Credit Union, the program's main sponsor. The other sponsors of the Teachers of the Year program were DigitalEdgeLearning and Lakeshore Learning.

This year's L.A. County Teachers of the Year are (alphabetically by district): -- Daniel Johns, Dana Middle, Arcadia USD; -- Jennifer Felter, Merwin, Covina-Valley USD; -- Kari Fretham, Culver City Middle, Culver City USD; -- Lynda Okerson, Cullen Elementary, Glendora USD; -- Jennifer Valencia, Lake Center Middle, Little Lake City School District; -- Erin Brady, Holmes Elementary, Long Beach USD; -- Kenneth Fisher, Cabrillo High, Long Beach USD; -- Jeffrey Austin, Social Justice Humanitas Academy, LAUSD; -- Stacey Joy, Baldwin Hills Gifted Magnet Elementary, LAUSD; -- Veronica Marquez, Harmony Elementary, LAUSD; -- Julie Borsari, Jordan Elementary, Lowell Joint School District; -- Linda Gesualdi, Mira Costa High, Manhattan Beach USD; -- Kyle McClure, Clifton Middle, Monrovia USD; -- Maryann Nielsen, South Pasadena High, South Pasadena USD; -- Sandra Davis, Diamond Bar High, Walnut Valley USD; and -- Sheila LaCour, Richard Henry Dana Middle, Wiseburn School District.