From L to R: Eric Page (OIS) , Director of Curriculum David Schrag, Beth Hoogerhuis (SH), Jenny Dodd (DR), Terry Schrittwieser (GL), Liz Headley (WR), Ashley Appel (multiple sites), School Board President Hillary Weiner, Superintendent Carolyn Seaton.
Nominated by their peers, six Orinda educators were named as Teachers of the Year following a rigorous selection process.
The teachers are Jenny Dodd of Del Rey Elementary, Terry Schrittwieser of Glorietta Elementary, Beth Hoogerhuis of Sleepy Hollow Elementary, Liz Headley of Wagner Ranch Elementary, Eric Page of Orinda Intermediate and Ashley Appel, who teaches at two or more sites.
The teachers were nominated using a form tied to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. School leadership teams met to review all submitted nomination forms and selected the teacher who represents the school as Site Teacher of the Year.
The District Teacher of the Year Committee then interviewed each Site Teacher of the Year and observed him/her teaching a lesson. Following the interviews and lesson observations, the committee selected the one teacher to represent the district as the Teacher of the Year. This year, that teacher is Dodd of Del Rey.
“We are so proud to have Jenny Dodd representing Orinda Union School District in the Contra Costa County Office of Education’s Teachers of the Year process. Ms. Dodd is student-centered, and she believes it is her job to help every student achieve his/her maximum potential,” says Carolyn Seaton, OUSD superintendent of schools.
Being selected as a teacher of the year, Seaton said, is a huge recognition. “It’s an acknowledgement that your colleagues recognize that you’re an outstanding teacher in the classroom but also that you go above and beyond the classroom, that you are a leader in everything you do,” Seaton says.
