Students show teachers they care

Danette Goulet

COSTA MESA -- The tables were turned Thursday morning when teachers took

their seats and students ran the show at the second annual Costa Mesa

Teacher Appreciation Breakfast.

Teachers from Costa Mesa’s two high schools were honored by students,

parents, business and religious leaders at a breakfast held in OCC’s

Captain’s Table restaurant.

Once seated, teachers were told to stay put while students catered to

them -- bringing them coffee, juice and the breakfast plate of their

choice.

Members of all these sectors of the community voiced their deepest

gratitude for the dedication, time and hard work that teachers put in

each day.

“The teaching profession is the only way we will survive as a

civilization,” said Dave Cline, president of Balboa Instruments.

The event is sponsored by the heads of three local organizations: Balboa

Instruments, the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce and Harbor Trinity

Church.

Leaders of the groups work closely with the schools and decided that

accolades were long overdue.

“We want to do something to let them know we care,” said Stephen Scherer,

CEO of Balboa Instruments. “We want to make sure there is specific

recognition of their fabulous job with our youth.”

Besides hosting the event, members of the chamber, church and company hit

the pavement to get contributions from the community. Upon entering the

breakfast, each teacher received a fat envelope of gift certificates,

including dinner at Maggiano’s, merchandise at the Grant Boys and

admission to the Orange County Fair, among many others. Although the

event is meant to honor all the teachers, the principal of each school

handpicks 15 teachers to participate each year.

The idea is to rotate through the faculty staff so that all teachers

eventually have a chance to go, said Andrew Hernandez, principal of Costa

Mesa High School.

“We try to be as representative as we can, since we have both middle and

high school at Costa Mesa,” Hernandez said.

That intimacy is part of what makes the day special, said Marian Dickey,

an English teacher at Estancia High School.

“This is really nice because it’s the two Costa Mesa schools being

recognized and working with the community,” she said. “And to have the

kids come and do the speaking and the serving is the most rewarding. It’s

moments like this when we realize what we’re really in education for.”