Peninsula Teacher Among Those Honored Today as County's Best

Sixteen educators were honored today -- including one from Dodson Middle School -- as Los Angeles County Teachers of the Year and will advance to the statewide competition.

The honorees were chosen from 77 district-level teachers of the year chosen earlier this year from among the county’s 75,000 teachers, according to the county Office of Education.

Each of the 16 honorees named today received $1,000 honorariums during a ceremony in Universal City.

Among them was 11-year teacher Lovelyn Marquez-Prueher.

Marquez-Prueher’s eighth-graders take a journey through literature under her guidance, and their writing is what captures their experiences, according to a press release from the county Office of Education. She dares them to take the next step in their personal journey, to be not just another middle school kid, but the very best they can be.

“Ms. Marquez-Prueher’s door is always open to others,” an administrator notes, “and it’s not unusual to find teachers observing in her classroom.”

The other honorees are:

-- Edward Meyer, Baldwin Park Unified School District;

-- Kimberly Baljet, Castaic Union School District;

-- Debbie Plumley, Claremont Unified School District;

-- Julie Romero, Downey Unified School District;

-- Mercedes Michael, Hacienda La Puente Unified School District;

-- William Garrett, Las Virgenes Unified School District;

-- Veronica Camelo, Little Lake City School District;

-- Jean Davis, Long Beach Unified School District;

-- Gail Hamilton, LBUSD;

-- Maricar Fortuno Catalan, Los Angeles Unified School District;

-- Lovelyn Marquez-Prueher, LAUSD;

-- Isabel Morales, LAUSD;

-- Michael Morgan, LAUSD;

-- Hector Perez-Roman, LAUSD;

-- Maggie Mabery, Manhattan Beach Unified School District; and

-- James Estabrook, Torrance Unified School District.

Five statewide co-winners will be announced in November, and one of them will be selected to represent California in the National Teacher of the Year competition in the spring.

--City News Service

Patch Senior Editor Penny Arévalo contributed to this report.

PHOTO Courtesy the Los Angeles County Office of Education.