District honors top teachers

Marisa O’Neil

A teacher at Newport-Mesa’s adult school has, for the first time,

finished among the top three for this year’s Teacher of the Year

Awards.

Ines Vicente from Whittier Adult School beat out the district’s

middle school teachers for the honors, given annually by the

Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers. The other top finishers, Van

Jamora from Corona del Mar High School and Jan Scheer from Mariners

Elementary, will go on to compete against teachers countywide. There

is no county competition for adult school teachers.

“Normally, we give the awards to a teacher from an elementary,

intermediate and high school,” union President Jim Rogers said. “But

this year, we selected Ines [Vicente] because her application was so

good and her scores were higher than the intermediate school

teachers. We thought it was important to recognize the contribution

adult education teachers make to the district and to the community.”

Teachers, administrators, parents and students nominate people for

the awards each year. The nominees then go through a lengthy

application process, including three letters of support and a

personal description of the class.

Each school site has one nominee selected as its teacher of the

year. Then after more consideration and class observation, the union

picks its top three.

“I’m still amazed,” fifth-grade teacher Scheer said. “People

congratulate me, and I think, ‘Did they pick the wrong person?’”

Scheer has taught in the district since 1972 and at Mariners for

the past 11 years. She credits her interest in each child’s

individuality for her love of teaching.

“When I started student teaching, they asked me why I wanted to be

a teacher,” she recalled. “I said: ‘Because I love children.’ They

said: ‘That’s not enough.’ They’re wrong.”

Music teacher Jamora started working at Corona del Mar High School

in 1998, after working as a teacher in Colton for four years. He

teaches the school’s band, orchestra, jazz band, two choirs and

instruments class.

His students’ energy provides a “virtual fountain of youth” for

him.

“In the classroom, I’m the only one who doesn’t make a sound,” he

said. “They have to make the music. That’s the great thing about it.

They really tap into what’s beautiful.”

Vicente came to the district 15 years ago from her homeland of

Argentina when her husband took a job in Orange County. Though she

comes from a long line of teachers and journalists, the former

professor of psychology and child development didn’t intend to follow

her family legacy.

When she applied to the Orange County Department of Education for

work as a psychologist, they suggested she work as a teacher. After

helping with bilingual education programs, they placed her as a

first-grade teacher at Whittier Elementary School.

Once the school started its adult-education program, Principal

Sharon Blakely put Vicente in charge of it.

“She had the dream of adult education that would support parents

learning English and the same skills our children are using so they

can work together and share their skills at home,” Blakely said.

Vicente teaches family literacy and helps students study to get

their General Educational Development degree in Spanish. She brings

in people from the community to speak with her students and takes

them on field trips to Orange Coast College to inspire their interest

in higher or career education.

“I like to be the difference in their lives,” she said. “I want

them to be comfortable and enjoy going to school knowing that this is

the first step in achieving their goals.”

* MARISA O’NEIL covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.