The Los Angeles County Teachers of the Year

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. and LOS ANGELES, Sept. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- A total of 16 winners were named today as the 2010-11 Los Angeles County Teachers of the Year, representing the profession's "best of the best" in the state's largest honors competition for K-12 educators.

At a morning hotel ceremony, the "Sweet 16" were named by Los Angeles County Interim Supt. of Schools Jon R. Gundry as outstanding educators who have been serving with praiseworthy distinction. Judged as the county's top public school teachers for this academic year, they will serve as standard-bearers for the teaching profession and their 80,000 classroom colleagues countywide.

The winning educators, comprised of 10 women and 6 men, teach a range of grades and subjects at a diversity of school locales, including: Arcadia, Baldwin Park, Canoga Park, Culver City, Downey, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Manhattan Beach, Paramount and Pasadena. (See full list on accompanying page.)

The entire field of 81 teachers who participated in the L.A. County competition had all been recently selected as teacher(s) of the year by their respective school districts.

The L.A. County Teachers of the Year Program, presented by the Los Angeles County Office of Education, is the largest local competition in the state and nation, and is part of the oldest and most prestigious honors contest in the U.S. for public school teachers. The number of winners  — 16 — is determined by program rules based on the total number of school teachers (80,000) in L.A. County.

"These hard-working teachers have been judged by their colleagues as exemplifying the very best in this wonderful profession of public education. Every day in the classroom they make the most of a precious opportunity — to make a positive difference in the lives of their students," said Gundry about the group of 16, each of whom received a $1,000 cash prize courtesy of the California Credit Union, the program's main sponsor.

In addition to getting interviewed, contestants submitted essays, lesson plans and other materials to judging panels comprised of peers. At all levels, TOY contests are designed to focus public attention on teaching excellence and to honor exemplary dedication, compelling classroom practices, positive accomplishments and professional commitment.

State Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell participated in the announcement of the Sweet 16, who all automatically advance with other county titlists from around the state to the California Teachers of the Year competition this fall. The state is scheduled to announce its five (5) co-winners in November. But only one (1) of those state co-winners will be chosen to represent California in the National Teacher of the Year contest next spring.

The other sponsors of the Teachers of the Year program were:  eInstruction, DigitalEdgeLearning and Lakeshore Learning.

SOURCE Los Angeles County Office of Education