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Sandra Galea-Martinez and Paula Delgado Selected to Represent GUHSD in Prestigious San Diego County Teacher of the Year Competition
April 27, 2011 (El Cajon)—At its Governing Board Meeting on Thursday, April 14, the Grossmont Union High School District honored Teacher of the Year nominees from its school sites. These nominees are selected by their peers.
A panel comprised of previous Teachers of the Year and District personnel selected two representatives from this distinguished group of nominees to be considered for the San Diego County Teacher of the Year competition. If selected to represent the County, the next step is the California State Teacher of the Year competition.
GUHSD 2011-12 Teacher of the Year Nominees:
Representing Grossmont High School:
Donald Ginn, Social Science Teacher; AP & GATE Coordinator; Coach and Club Advisor
Representing El Cajon Valley High School:
Natalie Vasquez, English & Study Skills Teacher; Link Crew Leader; Class and Club Advisor
Representing Mount Miguel High School:
Karen Cisnero, Mathematics Teacher; PLC Team Lead and Class Advisor
Representing Granite Hills High School:
Alexandra Grant, World Languages Teacher; BTSA Support Provider and Club Advisor
Representing Santana High School:
Jason Kay, Mathematics and Engineering Teacher; PLC Coordinator and Coach, who is also this year’s Golden Apple Winner from Santana
Representing Valhalla High School:
Joann DuFloth, Science Teacher; BTSA Support Provider and Club Advisor
Representing West Hills High School:
Debbie Dissinger, Mathematics Teacher; Coach, Class and Club Advisor, WASC and CSI Team Leader, who was voted Most Spirited Teacher for the past 3 years by the student body
Representing Alternative Education:
James Sturch, Mentor; Orientation and Theatre Teacher
Following are the two GUHSD Teachers of the Year who have been selected to go on to compete at the County level:
Sandra Galea-Martinez, Representing El Capitan High School
Sandra is a Science and AVID Teacher who has been teaching at El Capitan since 1990, where she has also taught P.E., Career and Family Studies and Geography. Sandra is also the AVID Coordinator, Field Hockey Coach, and the S.M.A.R.T. (Students Modeling a Research Topic) Team Advisor at El Cap. She has participated in many other aspects of the school community during her tenure.
Sandra has been honored as a “Teachers are Heroes” award winner; was nominated for the Disney Teacher Awards; is a former Golden Apple Award Winner; has been inducted into the El Capitan Athletic Hall of Fame, and the list of her accomplishments and acknowledgments goes on and on.
Paula Delgado, Representing Monte Vista High School
Paula is a Science Teacher, who has been teaching at Monte Vista for the past 13 years. This is her third time being honored as Monte Vista’s Teacher of the Year. Paula is very involved in the life of Monte Vista as a BTSA Support Provider, and has also served as the Title I coordinator, School Site Council Member, and Class Advisor, among other services. She is also very involved in community activities such as the annual Strides Against Breast Cancer event, where she is part of the team representing Monte Vista; she helps Monte Vista families with the annual Thanksgiving Day Food Drive; and she participates, along with her students, in the annual Beach Clean-Up event.
Paula has been honored as the “Marine Science Teacher of the Year” and recently worked with a group of engineers who collaborated with her physics students to build underwater submersibles. The highlight of her Oceanography class is a yearly trip to Catalina Island where the students apply what they have learned to real life aquatic opportunities. One colleague says of Paula, “She has gone the extra mile to help her students be all that they can be through her teaching, involvement in extracurricular events and motivation.” Monte Vista Principal Randy Montesanto, describes Paula as, “a true gift to the students, staff and Monte Vista community.”
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