Thursday, March 31, 2011

NEWS RELEASE -- Teachers of the Year Named by San Diego Unified School District

NEWS RELEASE from the San Diego Unified School District, March 31, 2011

TEACHERS OF THE YEAR NAMED BY SAN DIEGO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Alcorn, Chalupsky and Winn to be Honored at May 3 Celebration

SAN DIEGO -- Lee Elementary teacher Mark Alcorn, Marshall Middle's Jean
Chalupsky and Jonathan Winn of Crawford High's School of Community Health
and Medical Practices (CHAMPS) have been named San Diego Unified School
District's Teachers of the Year for 2011.

The trio will be saluted at the Day of the Teacher celebration, scheduled
for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 3, at Mission Bay High School. More than 130
Teachers of the Year from individual schools, Future Educator Scholars and
the latest class of the district's Board Certified Teachers will be honored.

A Teacher of the Year is selected for each school level. Alcorn is a fifth
grade teacher at Lee Elementary School in South Bay, Chalupsky teaches
eighth grade English Seminar at Thurgood Marshall Middle School in Scripps
Ranch, and Winn is a calculus teacher at Crawford CHAMPS High School in City
Heights.

"This is a trio of extremely talented teachers," said Superintendent Bill
Kowba. "They represent everything that is right about being dedicated to
students and shaping the next generation of Americans."

A college job as a teacher¹s aide allowed Mark Alcorn to apply his computer
problem-solving skills to teaching elementary students; he decided teaching
was more rewarding so it was good-bye computer sciences, hello elementary
school kids. A local product, he graduated from Patrick Henry High School.
He has been teaching at Lee Elementary since 2003 and in San Diego Unified
for more than 20 years.

A need for a more interesting college job led Jean Chalupsky to teaching, a
career that now spans more than 20 years. She's taught at Jerabek Elementary
and is currently an eighth grade English seminar teacher at Thurgood
arshall Middle School. Her love of literature and fascination with the
writers' historical context continues to challenge her students.

Jonathan Winn has only been a teacher for six years, joining Crawford CHAMPS
as a math teacher four years ago. Winn has developed a high voltage
classroom atmosphere that inspires high school students to get excited about
math and how it shapes everyday life. He's a calculus evangelist, expanding
the reach of the program to include an ever-larger number of students.

Alcorn, Chalupsky and Winn will go on to the San Diego County competition
along with the district¹s three Runners-up for Teacher of the Year, Gay
Young from Kumeyaay Elementary, Britney Sandoval from Lewis Middle School,
and David Evers from San Diego High School of International Studies.

# # #

NOTE TO REPORTERS AND EDITORS: For interviews with the Teachers of the Year,
contact Jack Brandais in the Communications Department at (619) 725-5570.

Jack Brandais
Communications Department
San Diego Unified School District
(619) 725-5570 (Desk)
(619) 607-0477 (Cell)


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