SRVUSD 2018-19 Teacher Of Year Receives Special Visit

From the Contra Costa County Office of Education: Recently, Contra Costa County Office of Education (CCCOE) Superintendent of Schools Karen Sakata visited the classroom of Shanna Gagnon, at California High School, in San Ramon. Gagnon, a seven-year instructor, was named San Ramon Valley Unified School District’s Teacher of the Year (TOY), earlier this year. Since 2013, Gagnon has taught world history, U.S. history, American studies, government, and iQuest to grades 10-12 at California High. Before joining the school, she taught world history, U.S. history, government, and economics for the Martinez and Acalanes School Districts.

“Mrs. Gagnon was my iQuest teacher during the 2016-2017 school year,” says former student Andrew Cabral. “iQuest is a competitive class in which students can pursue an internship or independent study plan in a field they are passionate about. Within two years, Mrs. Gagnon grew the program from 20 students more than 60, and it is now one of the most applied-to programs at Cal High. The amount of work that she puts into her students and the classes she teaches was (and is) apparent. She spends hours reading students’ blog posts, correcting resumes and cover letters, teaching life tips in class, all while exceeding at instructing two history classes.”

“As a student, I knew I could ask Mrs. Gagnon for help, regardless of whether or not it was an academic question,” continues Cabral. “She is always approachable, and genuinely cares about her students’ success. Mrs. Gagnon is a once-in-a-lifetime teacher.”

On the evening of September 27, 2018, the 22 Contra Costa County TOYs, class of 2018-19, including Shanna Gagnon, will be introduced and honored at the annual Teacher of the Year Dinner Gala, held at the Concord Hilton. The 22 TOYs will be accompanied by their families, friends, and co-workers. The expected crowd of close to 500 will also include numerous other supporters of the program. For more information about this year’s CCCOE TOY Program, please review this earlier-sent news release.

Throughout the school year, Superintendent Sakata makes it a point to visit each incoming TOY in their classrooms, prior to the Dinner Celebration. This is a great way for her to meet the teachers and their students, as well as take in the day’s lesson plan. When individually introducing the TOYs at the Dinner Gala, a short video presentation (recorded at each TOY classroom visit) will feature a quote from students about their revered teacher.

Currently, there are approximately 8,400 teachers educating more than 176,000 students in Contra Costa County’s public schools. To recognize their efforts and bring much-deserved honor to the teaching profession, the participating school districts in the county named their TOY representatives in mid March. The incoming 22 TOYs represent 17 Contra Costa County school districts, the Contra Costa Community College District, and the Contra Costa County Office of Education (CCCOE). Most of these representatives, those who teach grades K thru 12, are eligible to compete in the Contra Costa County TOY competition. The two top teachers in the county TOY program will represent Contra Costa County in the California State TOY Program this coming fall.

Note regarding eligible participants:

Seventeen of the eighteen Contra Costa County school districts represented, and the CCCOE are participating in this year’s county TOY competition.

Each year, one instructor from Contra Costa Community College District is submitted to the TOY program for his/her outstanding body of work with their designated college. The colleges rotate each year between Diablo Valley, Los Medanos, and Contra Costa. (These instructors do not compete in the State Teacher of the Year competition.) This year is Los Medanos College’s turn.

Due to the larger number of students and teachers in their districts, West Contra Costa USD, Mt. Diablo USD, and San Ramon Valley USD are allowed to submit two TOY candidates

Follow Contra Costa County’s Teacher of the Year program on Twitter and Instagram: #cocotoy

Photo Credit: Terry Koehne, CCCOE