Members of the Mission Bay High School Dixie Jazz Band welcomed San Diego Unified School District’s teachers of the year to their campus Tuesday for San Diego’s Annual Teacher Appreciation Day celebration.
Culinary arts students from Garfield and Morse High Schools served hors d’oeuvres while the band played before the recognition ceremony.
Mark Alcorn, Jean Chalupsky and Jonathan Winn were selected from more than 150 nominees to be the 2011 teachers of the year. We asked them what keeps them excited about teaching
Mark Alcorn, Fifth Grade Teacher at Lee Elementary School: Elementary School Level Teacher of the Year
“I truly believe that all students will achieve in my classroom and I do what I need to do to make sure that they do. I’m able to take kids wherever they are when they come to my classroom. I’m able to work with them, to modify the curriculum so that they can access the content.”
Jean Chalupsky, Eighth Grade English Teacher at Marshall Middle School: Middle School Level Teacher of the Year
“I definitely have a relationship with my students and try to get to know them on a personal level. My favorite thing is to try to make that connection to what’s happening in their lives and pull in literature that’s really important pieces that they should know.”
Jonathan Winn, Calculus Teacher at Crawford Educational Complex’s School of Community Health and Medical Practices : High School Level Teacher of the Year
“To be able to be part of the process that helps a youth authentically transition from childhood, through adolescence into adulthood – to be able to participate in that process is exciting to watch, but it’s also kind of healing and it helps me to engage in my own work in my own life’s journey.”
