2007 Outstanding First-Year Teacher Award

The California Association for Employment in Education (CAEE) recently recognized an outstanding first-year teacher in California for her unique and creative contribution to the education profession. The recipient received a $500 cash award.

Criteria for the awards included: special accomplishments, unique and creative contributions, highlights of instructional skills, interaction with students, parents and peers, and innovative programs and projects which distinguished the nominees from other first-year teachers.

CAEE links colleges, universities, school systems, students and education professionals to encourage employment in the field of education. CAEE membership consists of school district hiring personnel along with college and university education placement professionals.

The Award Winner:

Laura Hanusek

San Lorenzo Unified School District



I am nominating Laura Hanusek as our “Outstanding First Year Teacher” for the California Association for Employment in Education (CAEE) for her unique and creative contributions to Arroyo High School in the San Lorenzo Unified School District. As the new principal at the site it gives me great pleasure to share with your organization what Laura has meant to the Arroyo High School Community.

Laura has developed strong, dynamic instruction in her Health classes. She has incorporated technology, using videos from the internet imbedded into her Power Point presentations to make the curriculum more relevant for her students. She has helped create and incorporate department benchmark assessments and used the results to inform and improve her instruction. Her students are expected to develop strong listening and note taking skills, and participate in group activities and project based authentic assessments. She works with varying levels of abilities and differentiates instruction as if she were a veteran teacher. Her students are able to critically think about the National Health Standards and are good at presenting their knowledge in front of their peers.

Laura’s instruction is exceeded by her relational skills. As a member of her department and one of our small learning communities, she has forged strong ties with her colleagues and has become an asset to both groups. She volunteered her time to create the Health and Medicine Web Site (http://www.healthandmedicineacademy.org/), a page that promotes the efforts of Arroyo’s Health and Medicine Small Learning Community. This is a high quality page that took many hours to develop and is a work in progress for which Laura has accepted full responsibility. She attends all department and SLC meetings with enthusiasm and promotes a collaborative spirit with her peers. She works extremely well with her students and their parents. Parents enjoy hearing from her because she provides constructive feedback in relation to the progress of their son or daughter. The students speak highly of her and enjoy being in her class.

Laura’s instructional ability combined with her amiable nature has helped her to develop innovative projects and promote student learning. Currently she has students doing multiple presentations that incorporate PowerPoint and video streaming. In addition, her students construct colorful posters that provide information about drugs, alcohol, and nutrients. She also developed an activity that requires students to role play while learning communication skills. In groups, students have made colorful handbooks on the reproductive system and also anti-tobacco advertisements. Exemplary student work is displayed in her classroom. She has shared these projects and the results with her department.

Overall, I have to say Laura epitomizes what the CAEE organization is seeking to honor. She is a first year teacher who is innovative, giving, professional, and is also strong at curriculum development and delivery. She works extremely well with peers, students and parents. She has made the classroom experience relevant for her students and has become an integral member of both her department and the Health and Medicine Small Learning Community. Her creation of the website is amazing. As a new administrator who has observed her often and conversed with her about her job performance, I am very happy that she works at our school. Her ability and efficacy exceed any first year teacher that I have known in my 20 years in education.

Larry Smith
Principal
Arroyo High School