The Cupertino Educational Endowment Foundation has announced the recipients of multiple awards honoring educators, employees and parent volunteers in the Cupertino Union School District.
The awards will be given to recipients on March 21 during the 30th CEEF Gala at the Fairmont San Jose.
The awards are the Sandy Liu Community Service Leadership Award, the Innovative Technology Educator Award, and the Patricia A. Lamson Endowment Fund for Reading Literacy Scholarship.
CEEF works in partnership with the Cupertino Union School Districts, parents, businesses and the local community to raise funds for educational programs that federal and state funding do not support.
This year Jena Rajabally of McAuliffe and Miller middle schools will receive the Sandy Liu Community Service Leadership Award. Rajabally is being recognized for her work as a classroom coordinator and parent mentor on district-wide initiatives including the Their Future is Now campaign in 2010.
The campaign raised $2.5 million in eight weeks to save 115 teachers from losing their jobs, and has created partnerships in support of educational excellence within the district, according to CEEF.
The Sandy Liu Community Service Leadership Award was established in October 2013 by the CEEF board of trustees in honor of the late Sandy Liu, a CUSD parent who was also active in the Their Future is Now campaign.
Terry Chou of Miller Middle School has been selected to receive the 2015 Innovative Technology Educator Award, created in 2011 to acknowledge teachers who are using technology in innovative ways in their classrooms.
Chou’s graduate training in inquiry, metacognition and the science of student learning became the basis for the creation of a course entitled SEARCH, or “Science Enrichment And ResearCH.” SEARCH offers students authentic scientific research experiences that are based on the Lean Launchpad method created by Steve Blank, a method that is being taught in MBA programs across the country, according to CEEF.
Established to honor the legacy of former CUSD Superintendent Patricia A. Lamson, the Lamson Endowment Fund for Reading Literacy Scholarship supports the professional growth of teachers in the six English language arts shifts identified in the new Common Core standards. Sherinda Gonder of Kennedy Middle School and Eric Claravall of Cupertino Middle School will be honored for their efforts in these areas.
Gonder is developing a nonfiction literature circle that will encourage students to not only read nonfiction texts more closely but also work to construct meanings from readings.
Claravall’s project focuses on the use of textual evidence to make convincing arguments, which will culminate in a classroom inquiry on the economic impact of agricultural sustainability and people’s eating habits, as well as the creation of a mini graphic novel using the web platform, pixton.com, according to CEEF.
“These individuals have demonstrated exceptional service on behalf of the over 19,000 students in CUSD,” said CEEF Board President Karen Rizkalla in a press statement. “We are thrilled to be honoring them for all that they do for our children.”
The CEEF Gala will also recognize the 2014-15 CUSD Teachers of the Year. Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone will be serving as this year’s honorary gala chair.
For more information about the award winners and the gala, visitceefcares.org.
