| OUSD NEWSROOM PRESS RELEASE Tuesday, December 22, 2020Contact: John SasakiCommunications Director 510-214-2080[email protected] Oakland, CA — This year, the annual Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE) Teacher of the Year Awards ceremony was unlike any other. The ceremony happened online earlier this month, and the county sent no winners to the 2020 California Teacher of the Year competition. There was also a new award called the Bridging the Distance Award, for teachers who have done remarkable work in distance learning. ACOE honored Teachers of the Year from school districts across the county, including two outstanding teachers from Oakland Unified School District. Ji-Yun “Jane” Kim, biology and AP biology teacher from Fremont High School, and Phoebe Diamond, 3rd grade teacher from Chabot Elementary School, both received honors from the county. During the ceremony, each of them was recognized with videos made by ACOE, comprised of their own words on what teaching means to them, and comments from their colleagues about what makes them great teachers. Here are their videos. ACOE said it “recognizes honorees for their individual dedication and excellence in the classroom, and acknowledges the thousands of educators doing amazing work across Alameda County every day.” “No one is more impactful than a teacher – whether in the classroom with students, or not,” said L. Karen Monroe, Alameda County Superintendent of Schools, during the program. “That will never change.”OUSD’s Bridging the Distance Award winners are Emily Rubin from Glenview Elementary School and Kyle Moss from Montclair Elementary School. They didn’t have videos, but they were recognized during the program with the following graphics.   “The Alameda County Office of Education Teacher of the Year Awards ceremony is always a joyous occasion in which our wonderful educators get to shine alongside their colleagues from across the county,” said Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell. “And while our current circumstances prevented our winners from getting the full awards experience this year, we are overjoyed, and know that all of them, Ji-Yun Kim, Phoebe Diamond, Emily Rubin and Kyle Moss are fabulous representatives of the excellence of OUSD teachers. I congratulate and thank them for their dedication to the young people of Oakland.”You can watch the entire 2020 awards ceremony here. It includes a special message from the Golden State Warriors, and a performance by beginning dance students at Madison Park Academy. While ACOE did not name county-level Teacher of the Year honorees, it will name two county-level honorees from the combined 2020 and 2021 cohorts to be considered for California Teacher of the Year in 2021. ###About the Oakland Unified School DistrictIn California’s most diverse city, Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) is dedicated to creating a learning environment where “Every Student Thrives!” More than half of our students speak a non-English language at home. And each of our 81 schools is staffed with talented individuals uniting around a common set of values: Students First, Equity, Excellence, Integrity, Cultural Responsiveness and Joy. We are committed to preparing all students for college, career and community success. To learn more about OUSD’s Full Service Community District focused on academic achievement while serving the whole child in safe schools, please visit OUSD.org and follow us @OUSDnews.  |
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