Education: Five GUSD teachers awarded for excellence in education by the county
Awards acknowledge the hard work and dedication of teachers for their ingenuity and perseverance
By Marty Cheek
Congratulations were showered on five Gilroy Unified School District teachers who are making a difference in their classrooms.
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2021 TEACHER OF THE YEAR CELEBRATION
Educators from school districts throughout the county were honored at the 51st Santa Clara County Office Teacher of the Year’s celebration held Oct. 28.
Teachers from Gilroy’s public school who were awarded are: Ana Benich (Gilroy Early College Academy) for 2021 Teacher of the Year; Amber Bruce (GECA) for the Civics Leadership Award; Yesenia Campuzano (South Valley Middle School) for Civics Leadership Award; Eric Davis (Mt. Madonna High School) for Civics Leadership Award; and David Salles (Christopher High School) for the Texas Instruments STEM Leadership in Teaching award.
Several of the awards were handed out to honorees by Claudia Rossi, who serves as the president of the board of the Office of Education and represents the South Valley on the board.
“South County was really so well represented. We have amazing teachers,” she said. “One of the things that we want to make sure is that the districts avail themselves of the opportunity to submit nominations, so the county office reaches out to all the districts to encourage them to submit nomination applications.”
The district administration nominated the teachers.
County Superintendent of Schools Mary Ann Dewan said the awards acknowledge the hard work and dedication of teachers for their ingenuity and perseverance during the past year and a half.
- Eric Davis teaches U.S. government and economics
“Mr. Davis connects civic engagement, activism and the importance of being a good person across his courses. He exemplifies and models what it means to be a life-long learner. While his students are engaged in what civics engagement means, he models for the students by engaging in his local community. He applies concepts of local government in school board meetings and other forms of activism. Mr. Davis is an advocate for his students and wants them to have as many opportunities as possible. And he’s involved with creating a safe and inclusive classroom campus.”
- Amber Jane Bruce teaches AP language and composition
“Amber works diligently to provide students with a holistic look at the history of our nation. As students learn about our nation’s history, they also learn about the rhetoric that built our nation and culture. With the unique ability to engage students with the world around them in meaningful ways, students in Amber’s AP language and composition class have remarked that they feel more seen in her classroom and curriculum than any other that they’ve been in, and they can better make sense of their influence and their identity. Amber’s students know that they are meaningful members of their community.”
- Yesenia Campuzano teaches English language arts and social science
“Teaching in a mild to moderate class, most of Yesenia students qualify for specific learning disability support. She integrates multiple teaching methods according to the students’ needs and promotes inclusion by getting to know their interests, strengths, weaknesses, and culture in every single opportunity they spend together. Equity, diversity and inclusion are modeled daily as students and family are respected and their backgrounds embraced. Yesenia makes a positive impact by having all students participate in different activities and workshops that bring awareness to the greater community and guides students to develop skills to allow them to thrive.”
- David Salles teaches chemistry
“Believing that thinkers support the analysis of important events in our world through the lens of chemistry, David engages both his students and parents as he aligns everyday events through the teaching of chemistry. For David, equity isn’t only about students having equal support, it’s also about students having opportunities to excel in academic success. As a teacher, inclusion means no students are left behind and include all students in the journey of learning. His teaching chemistry relates to how nutrition, organic compounds, water quality, air particulates, and medicine have impacted youth to links to health and medicine. He loves when young people get excited about education, select health care as their field of study, and enrich the health and wellbeing of all communities.”
- Ana Benich teaches English
“Ana’s educational philosophy for her students is the same as it is for her teaching approaching tenth grade English: encouraging students to evaluate their learning regularly, and to acknowledge their strengths while understanding there is always room for growth. Together, Ana and her students collaborate while making a little progress every day, which in the end yields greater gains. Ana’s leadership and contributions have led to an overall improvement at the school — and the Gilroy Early College Academy is better equipped to support all students with teachers who share a unified vision of best instructional practices like those of Ana.”
