State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson this week named the five California Teachers of the Year for 2016, along with six finalists and eight semifinalists — one of whom is Orange County’s own Lisa Moloney from Huntington Beach.
You might remember that Moloney, a second-grade teacher at Perry Elementary School in the Huntington Beach City School District, was named one of Orange County’s five Teachers of the Year in May. During a career that spans more than 20 years, she has honed her ability to reach students who are at-risk, have special needs or are limited in their English proficiency.
Meanwhile, the five 2016 California Teachers of the Year are: Daniel Jocz, 10th-through-12th-grade social studies teacher at Downtown Magnets High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District; Mitch Bahr, who teaches instrumental music at Foothill High in the Shasta Union High School District; Michelle Cherland, a second-grade teacher at Carrillo Ranch Elementary School in the Desert Sands Unified School District; Doug Green, who teaches broadcast journalism to students in grades seven through 12 at Valley Middle School and Carlsbad High in the Carlsbad Unified School District; and Ann Park, who teaches writing and science to fifth-graders at Greenleaf Elementary School in the Oakland Unified School District.
You can read the full news release here, along with short bios of the winners.