Lisa Coorough named MS Educator of the Year

Three teachers from some of Tulare County’s small schools will be honored at the 19th annual Confucius’ Birthday/Educators of the Year Celebration.

This year, a Springville educator — Lisa Coorough, an English and history teacher at Springville Union School District — is among them, having been selected the Middle School Educator of the Year.

A graduate of Springville School, Coorough returned as a teacher after earning a master of arts degree in education at Fresno Pacific University.

She is also the school’s ‘Character Counts!’ chair person, the school’s student council adviser and the school’s assistant vice principal.

“I spend a lot of time preparing students as young as seventh grade for college,” Coorough said. “So when a former student wrote in her college application essay that she wanted to be an elementary school teacher at Springville School because of the influence her teacher had on her, that was the greatest reward I could receive.”

Other educators being honored are Janelle von Helf, a first grade teacher at Sequoia Union as Elementary Educator of the Year; and Stephen Reid of La Sierra Military, as the High School Educator of the Year. The three educators will be honored Sept. 27 at an event hosted by the Chinese Cultural Center in Visalia.

The honors are part of the annual Confucius’ Birthday/Educators of the Year Celebration.

“The remarkable love and dedication our winners have for their work is making a huge difference in the lives of he students they serve,” said Tulare County Superintendent Jim Vidak.

Now in its 19th year, the teacher-recognition program, co-hosted by the Central California Chinese Cultural Center and the Tulare County Office of Education, recognizes an elementary, middle and high school teacher on the birthday of Confucius — an occasion Chinese people around the world often use to celebrate teachers.

For more information the Educators of the Year awards program, call Marlene Moreno at 733-6302.