Ms. Leo and Mr. Patton won the Teacher of the Year award, and were presented with their awards in their classrooms on April 9th.
Ms. Leo, who teaches Pre-Calculus and AP Statistics, received the award as a veteran teacher. She was surprised during her third period class by Mr. Herzfeld, PTSA parents, her daughter, her son, and her mother-in-law.
“It was a tremendous honor. When they came in, I cried. We have a lot of really good teachers at Fountain Valley and it feels great to be recognized,” said Leo.
Mr. Patton is a CP English teacher in his first year at FVHS. He was also surprised in his classroom by friends and PTSA parents.
“It was interesting…one of my best friends’ moms walked through the door, which totally threw me off; I was completely surprised… She was the first person I saw walk through the door, along with Mrs. Palmer and two parents,” said Patton.
“I think that its nice that there are two recipients every year, a veteran and a newcomer because I think as a new teacher, I don’t necessarily think I’m teacher of the year,” Patton stated. “There’s so many that have been at it for however many years.”
The Teacher of the Year is a process sponsored by the Parent Teacher Student Association, where students and the community choose a veteran teacher and a new teacher to win the award. Ballot boxes were placed in the library, activities office, and the main office, where students, parents, and staff members can nominate teachers of their choice, other than those who have already been awarded. The ballot is open-ended, so they can write their reason for nominating these teachers.
At the end of the voting period, the PTSA had a committee pick up the ballots and categorize them by the number of votes the teachers got, and the reason they were nominated. Then, the PTSA were able to discuss and pick the winners.
“It’s too bad that it’s just one person [who wins], because I know there are a lot of good teachers [at FVHS], lots and lots of good teachers here,” said Leo.
