Gonzales is County Teacher of Year

Katryn Gonzales, a ninth and 10th grade Earth science and biology teacher, is a bright star in the town of Lindsay, and is considered a leader in curriculum reform at Lindsay High School.

She will receive her “Teacher of the Year,” award on Oct. 6, at a breakfast reception for the Tulare County Education “Excellence in Education” Awards.

Asked how she felt when she was told on April 22, about being “Teacher of the Year,” Gonzales said, “I was very surprised.”

When Tulare County Superitendent of Schools Jim Vidak, Lindsay Superitendent of Schools Janet Kliegl, and Lindsay High Principal Virgel Hammonds came into her classroom of 28 students, with five other colleagues, Gonzales said “she thought that they were doing a district walk through.

“At Lindsay High they have visitors in the classrooms all the time, especially since they have instituted my new instructional programs. So when Mr. Hammond interrupted my class, to introduce Mr. Vidak,” Gonzales said, “well then I knew something was going on. But I didn’t know if it was something good, or not. I thought, either I was in a lot of trouble, or it was something really good.”

At that point Gonzales said that a student was video taping, and then another of her colleagues had a video camera. The video was posted on Facebook.

When asked about new instructional programs Gonzales referred to the Re-Inventing Schools Coalition, and its website, which is a group of schools and teachers that are re-defining instruction in schools. In February, this year, the Maine Department of Education began a partnership with the RISC, and moved forward to begin implementing standards-based education systems.  

Standards-based education means that students are allowed to define their own learning based on pre-determined standards. Instead of traditional grades, students get a designation of one, two, three, or four that match with a list of standards. They then know exactly what skills they need to achieve their standard, and can then move on. For instance a student in sixth grade might be working on the same math standard as a student in eighth grade, and they are allowed to move around from classroom to classroom throughout the day, depending upon their standard. This gives the students a certain amount of independence, to determine their rate of learning.

One of Gonzales students, sophomore Derek Burns, said “I personally believe that our school system is a step in the right direction. It allows the smarter kids to move faster and allows the slower kids to have more time.”
Hammonds, Lindsay High School principal, said of Gonzales, “in my tenure as an administrator, I have had only one teacher request the ‘lowest achieving’ learners, and that was Katryn. Amazingly, all of her learners leave her class with a wealth of science knowledge, and, more importantly, they have become better people.”

When Gonzales talked about her students, she said, “I just like being around teenagers. It really doesn’t matter what the teaching subject is, I just like the energy that the kids give me.”

She said that she loved the challenge of students that found learning difficult.

“Once students find that learning can be fun, and that school can be an exciting place to be, it’s very rewarding, to have helped someone realize that.” Gonzales says. “I find everyday a challenge.”

One of the students in Gonzales’ classes wrote and said that she thought that the new instructional system helped students learn, and is improving Lindsay High School academics.

“I believe that the new system is so much better than last year’s system. Last year teachers gave any grade he or she thought you deserved, and anything would make them change your grade. This year you have to provide evidence such as tests, presentations, essays, and drawings to show proof you know the standard,” Niomie Velasco said. “The teachers also post the measurement topics online on Educate, which is our school’s grading website. Each student has an account and we have access to not only our measurement topics but also our grades and bullets we are missing at all times.”

Velasco also said that she was learning and remembering more efficiently. She said that she believes the system is for everyone, “because you go at your own speed. You can’t sit in class and do nothing but you can take your time learning a topic. Some people learn everything fast and before the year is over have a chance to test out of the class. If that person proves he or she knows everything, they can move on to a higher class and can graduate before their class.”

In addition to being an award-winning teacher, Gonzales and her husband, Roger — an English teacher at Lindsay High — have formed a charitable organization called, “The Legacy Scholarship Foundation,” in support of Lindsay High School graduates’ pursuit of higher education.

“My husband, Roger, has dreamed of helping students earn their college degrees for years,” Gonzales said. Her husband was the first in his family to attend college and to earn his bachelor’s degree.

“Roger Gonzales formed the Gonzales Family Scholarship about eight years ago, by soliciting donations from both our family members, so they could award one deserving male and one deserving female student each year,” Katryn Gonzales said.

She then said they investigated how to increase donations and applied for non-profit organization status, renaming the scholarship the Legacy Scholarship Foundation.

“Our family continues to donate, but we also sponsor the Orange Blossom 10K/5K Fun Run as a fundraiser for the Legacy Scholarship Foundation,” Katryn Gonzales said. This year they will award two $1,500 scholarships. The ultimate goal is to pay for two students’ college education for an entire year.

Katryn Gonzales graduated as class valedictorian in 1993 and had an academic scholarship to attend the University of California at Riverside. She finished in 1997, with a B.A. in Entomology.

“I first remember being thrilled with science in seventh and eighth grade,” Gonzales said. “I had an inspirational life science teacher named Steve Sanchez that challenged us to start a Life Lab where we grew vegetables and sold them after school. I really got involved in this class and program.”

Gonzales said that during high school she was involved with Lindsay FFA and worked as an intern at the Kearney Ag Center in Parlier for citrus entomologist Dr. Beth Grafton-Cardwell.

“Dr. Grafton-Cardwell inspired me to pursue science education and to really “push the envelope,” in a major that was predominantly male. When she was on a Tropical Biology Program in Costa Rica in 1995 with the University of Riverside, Gonzales said she made the decision to pursue teaching as a career.

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Jamie Hunt is a freelance reporter. Send e-mail in care of recorder@portervillerecorder.com.