The Sacramento County Board of Education has passed Resolution 05-04 recognizing Wednesday, May 11, as California Day of the Teacher in Sacramento County. The resolution, signed unanimously, states that "the future of our great nation rests on the success to be achieved by our teachers." Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools David W. Gordon commended educators, emphasizing, "Teachers touch the lives of students, of families, of entire communities. Because of gifted and inspired teachers, children experience success each day in the classroom."
The Day of the Teacher is celebrated on the second Wednesday in May in accordance with California legislation and the Education Code. The Day of the Teacher is patterned after the traditional "El Dia del Maestro" ("Day of the Teacher") festivities observed in Mexico and other countries.
Sacramento County Office of Education Teacher of the Year 2005
Representing Sacramento County Office of Education teachers as SCOE Teacher of the Year 2005 is program specialist Joy Bonds-Baird. Joy Bonds-Baird is currently on assignment to develop child care services for children with special education needs. "As educators, I believe that we must reach beyond the walls of the classroom," says Joy Bonds-Baird. "Our understanding of our students must be placed within the context of the family and the community, their traditions, their perspectives, their hopes and their dreams. When we know and value what our students bring to us, then we can truly know how to meet their needs, and we can begin the learning process together. As Stephen Covey says, 'Seek first to understand.'"
Joy Bonds-Baird was honored by the Sacramento County Board of Education on November 10, 2004.
Outstanding educators from throughout the area are honored each year by the Sacramento County Office of Education. SCOE coordinates the annual Sacramento County Teachers of the Year program, in which local school districts are invited to participate. Educators selected by their districts as Teachers of the Year for 2006 will be honored September 6, 2005, at the countywide Teachers of the Year recognition event held at the Sacramento Hilton. For information and reservations, call (916) 228-2664.
At the banquet, two local Teachers of the Year are announced as representatives of Sacramento County to the state Teachers of the Year program. California annually selects five Teachers of the Year, with one advancing to the National Teacher of the Year program.
Partnering with the Sacramento County Office of Education to recognize exemplary teachers are the Scottish Rite, which presents a perpetual trophy to the two Sacramento County Teachers of the Year, and Maloof Sports and Entertainment, which annually honors local Teachers of the Year in a ceremony during halftime of a Sacramento Kings home game and sends a Kings player to the school site to personally recognize Sacramento County Teachers of the Year.