Gary Thomas, Ed.D. County Superintendent

Superintendent's Message

Teachers Of Year Deserve Accolades

Despite these difficult times economically for our schools and districts, there is richness in our educational programs for San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools worth celebrating. In June, the County Board of Education recognized the 2009 County Schools' Teacher of the Year and five other regional Teachers of the Year from our county-operated Student Services programs.

Teacher quality has the greatest impact on student academic achievement. As such, recognition of outstanding teaching is important, especially during these difficult times. This year, Nicolle Burgos, a State Preschool teacher at Adelanto State Preschool, has been selected as the County Schools Teacher of the Year and advances to be a nominee for the countywide Teacher of the Year program in the fall.

For the past 11 years, Burgos has been teaching for County Schools. She is responsible and professional as "lead teacher" within the region, and many of her parents respect her and know she genuinely cares for their children.

The other County Schools' regional Teachers of the Year are:

• Betty Brooks, Regional Occupational Program Teacher of the Year, is a licensed vocational nurse and teaches the following ROP courses at Fontana High: Certified Nursing Assistant, Acute Certified Nursing Assistant, and Medical Terminology. She has been a ROP instructor since 2001. After working in the medical field with more than 16 years of practical experience in hospital, home health and primary care environments, Betty calls her present teaching opportunity "pure bliss."
• Norm Cosme, an alternative education teacher, teaches young men at the Central Juvenile Court School in the East Valley Region. He has been a County Schools teacher since 1999 with the juvenile court schools programs. Norm works with the one of the toughest populations in the JCS program. He mentions his most memorable moment as a teacher was when his class of students visited the University of Redlands as part of a literacy program. Many of his students had never seen a university campus, or even knew that the city of Redlands was next door to San Bernardino, so the look of "awe" on their faces was memorable and fulfilling.
• Janet Lopez, a special education teacher representing the West End Region, teaches at Maple Street Early Education Center in Ontario. She teaches three- to five-year-olds in the program for severely handicapped (autistic, learning style, hearing loss, visual impairment, mental retardations and behavior concerns). She has been a teacher for 16 years and with County Schools for 12 of those years. Janet's motto is that we can teach all children.
• Marla Stanfield, Desert/Mountain teacher of the year in special education, is at Puesta Del Sol Elementary School in Victorville. She teaches students with moderate to severe disabilities. Marla started out as a substitute educational assistant in July 1995 and has been a special education teacher with County Schools since September 2002. She is actively involved in providing the best programs and services for the students within the county and the district.
• Michael Winslow, a special education teacher in the East Valley, teaches young adults with severe/profound disabilities at Barbara Phelps County High School in Redlands. He has been a County Schools employee since August 2006. He believes in focusing on the student's individual strengths and builds his program to compliment those strengths in order for the student to gain self-esteem.