Dawna Countryman
Fifth Grade
Tesoro del Valle Elementary School
Saugus Union Elementary School District
I believe teaching is the best job a person can have. The personal satisfaction and sense of accomplishment that I feel at the end of each day is indescribable. — Dawna Countryman
In Mrs. Countryman's application for California Teacher of the Year, she wrote: "Although I cannot speak for my students, throughout the years, my students have spoken to me. My measurement of success is the feedback that I continue to get. Students often reflect on how they looked forward to coming to school each day and how much they learned from being in my class. I am always proud to learn of the impact that my teaching had on their lives. My students know they mattered to me."
Mrs. Countryman, who is currently working on her doctorate in the Educational Leadership Program at University of California at Los Angeles, earned a Cross-cultural, Language, and Academic Development Certificate in 2000 and a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1988 at UCLA. She also holds a Professional Clear Multi-subject Credential from California State University, Dominguez Hills. She began her teaching career in 1988 as a first grade teacher.
Mrs. Countryman is active in the community as well as the classroom. She and her husband sponsor, coach, and mentor 30 young men who are members of the Palmdale Youth Football Organization. In 2004, she co-founded the group, SCV FACES, which brings together families of color to discuss issues in education. She also founded “Make a Difference Day” at her school where students assist teachers and also beautify the campus on weekends and after school.
Rick LeVan
Pre-Algegra, Life Science, Advanced Studies
Canyon Middle School
Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District
Our profession needs competent, enthusiastic team players, who are unafraid of change and new ideas, and who can adapt instruction to meet the needs of an ever-changing culture. — Rick LeVan
Mr. LeVan wrote in his application for California Teacher of the Year: "My teaching is never the same from year to year. This way my teaching remains fresh and challenging, which makes me look forward to the next class, the next day, and the next year. Our profession needs competent, enthusiastic team players, who are unafraid of change and new ideas, and who can adapt instruction to meet the needs of an ever-changing culture."
Mr. LeVan was faced with certain failure during a crucial evaluation as a young Air Force officer until the booming voice of a "crusty old flight instructor" ordered him not to give up. "That experience had a great impact on the direction and focus of my life. I never quit on myself or any of my students. My students know that there is nothing they can do, nothing they can say that will ever make me give up on them. I do not quit on any child, for any reason."
Mr. LeVan graduated from Moravian College in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, Webster University in 1992 with a Master of Arts degree, and in 1996 earned a California Multiple Subject Teaching Credential. He also holds a Cross-cultural, Language, and Academic Development Certificate and is GATE certified. Prior to becoming a teacher, Mr. LeVan was a flight navigator in the Air Force, and has flown C-141 transports all over the world, and also was a flight instructor and evaluator.
He volunteers as a math tutor for students studying for the California High School Exit Exam, assists a volunteer fire department, coaches the Mentone Little League, and has taken a Destination Imagination team to the state finals.
Helen Papadopoulos
Algebra
Suzanne Middle School
Walnut Valley Unified School District
We often ignore our own profession as we encourage our students to seek out and follow their interests. I cannot think of a better way for students to learn about our profession than from us. — Helen Papadopoulos
In her application for California Teacher of the Year, Mrs. Papadopoulos wrote: "We are a community of engaged and enthusiastic learners. Through technology, working collaboratively, and even singing math songs, math ceases to be a spectator sport. We don’t just lean math, we do math. We need to discover how our students learn best. What their strengths and weaknesses are, and what motivates them to do well. Armed with this knowledge, we can help turn their challenges into successes."
One of her students wrote: “I have never had a teacher quite like Mrs. Papadopoulos. I looked forward to sitting in her class everyday, listening to her funny jokes and how she could make math understandable. She was excellent in giving real-life examples to her students to help them understand the many different math concepts.”
Mrs. Papadopoulos expressed concerns about the future of the teaching profession as experienced educators are retiring in greater numbers than ever before. Efforts must be redoubled to recruit new, eager teachers and the earlier the better, she said.
Mrs. Papadopoulos earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies in 1983 from California State University, Fullerton, where in 1985 she also received her Clear Multi-Subject Teaching Credential. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Education from the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
Charles Reynes
Fourth and Fifth Grade Science
Palomares, Proctor, Independent, Marshall, Stanton, and Castro Valley Elementary Schools
Castro Valley Unified School District
Children lead very complicated lives, and I am continually inspired by the courage of my Title I students to learn in the midst of adversity. — Charles Reynes
In his application for California Teacher of the Year, Mr. Reynes said, "For more than 20 years, I have been developing activities and building equipment to help students understand very complex ideas. I infuse each lesson with rich activities so that I can meet the needs of my auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners."
Mr. Reynes can relate to those students who struggle to learn, who often change schools, and who are very far behind everyone else. He was once one of them. But the guidance of one teacher changed his life, and Mr. Reynes hopes he can pay it forward. Teaching, he said, is rewarding yet, at times, heartbreaking, and it is up to schools to find creative solutions to the complex issues that affect student success outside of the classroom and beyond school boundaries.
Mr. Reynes earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of San Francisco in 1982, and a Multiple Subject Credential in 1986 from California State University, East Bay (formerly CSU Hayward), where he also earned 32 units in accounting.
Alan Sitomer
GATE English and AVID
Lynwood High School
Lynwood Unified School District
I believe that great teaching is where students are motivated. — Alan Sitomer
In his California Teacher of the Year application Mr. Sitomer wrote of how he reached unmotivated students who covered their faces with sweatshirt hoods like Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars, by turning to the positive power of hip-hop. He used Tupac Shakur to connect to Dylan Thomas and Ice Cube to connect to Lord Alfred Tennyson. "From the very first moment I announced what we’d be doing, I had 100 percent engagement from 100 percent of the students. They offered insight, they offered passion, they offered themselves, even as I assigned oral presentations, persuasive essays, and classroom debates."
Mr. Sitomer believes that equity in education is one of the biggest issues facing public schools. “Morally, ethically, and pragmatically we must recognize that when some students are offered technology in the classroom, field trips, and a rich academic curriculum…and other students in the same city but a few miles away are forced to negotiate impacted classrooms, textbooks riddled with graffiti and chronic violence on campus, pupils from both sides of the education fence – and society at large – will ultimately lose. And lose big.”
Mr. Sitomer earned a Bachelor of Arts with honors in English Literature at the University of Southern California in 1989, a Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment certification in 2000, a GATE certification at San Diego State University in 2001, and a Master’s degree in Cross-cultural Language Arts Education at National University in 2003.
Mr. Sitomer is the California representative to the National Teacher of the Year.
