Educator of the Year Awards celebrate the top in the county

The Fresno County Office of Education, in partnership with the Educational Employees Credit Union, hosted the annual Educator of the Year Awards Ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 27 at the William Saroyan Theatre. The winners of the School Employee and Teacher categories have the opportunity to apply for the California Department of Education awards in 2017.

The Educator of the Year application process begins in March when FCOE receives the completed nomination packets from school districts. Each district has the opportunity to nominate one honoree for each of the three categories. The judging process begins with a committee pre-reading the nomination packets and ranking them. The top applications are given to the final selection committee who narrows the field to three finalists in each category. The winners are chosen by closed ballot. This year, 21 nominations were received for School Employee of the Year, 15 for Administrator of the Year and 22 for Teacher of the Year.

The following winners were chosen in each category:

School Employee of the Year
• Danny Alberty, Fresno Unified School District – Alberty is a campus assistant at Edison High School. He has worked in education for 30 years. He said of his position, “While my job is campus assistant and athletic coach, what I do is so much more. I am a peacemaker, a guide, a motivational speaker, a shoulder to cry on, a sounding board, a voice of reason and a friend. As I continue to interact with students of all walks of life, I know that what I do matters because I am able to make a difference in the life of a child.”

Administrator of the Year
• Bob Kampf, Clovis Unified School District – Kampf is director of supplemental services at Clovis Unified School District. He has worked in education for 36 years. He said of this honor, “It is truly about ‘team’ and the opportunity to work with the most talented and dedicated educators possible. Here’s to making sure every student crosses the stage to graduate in 12th grade!”

Teacher of the Year
• Jacqueline Ruiz, Fresno Unified School District – Ruiz is a lead chemistry teacher, International Baccalaureate program environmental systems teacher and pep and cheer director at Fresno High School. She has been a teacher for five years. She said of her position, “I want students to construct their own knowledge rather than have me lecture to them. When students take responsibility for their own learning, they figure out what works best for them, do better staying in their optimal learning modality and gain not just knowledge to pass an exam, but true understanding.”