MORAGA, Calif., June 5, 2019 – Recently, Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools Lynn Mackey visited the first-grade classroom of Jennifer Strohmeyer, at Donald L. Rheem Elementary School, in Moraga. Strohmeyer has been educating grades 1-3 at Rheem Elementary during her entire 21-year teaching career. This past March, Strohmeyer was named by the Lafayette School District as their Teacher of the Year (TOY).
Throughout the school year, Superintendent Mackey makes it a point to visit each incoming TOY in their classrooms, before they are all honored at the renowned annual Contra Costa County Teachers of the Year Gala Dinner. This is a great way for her to meet the teachers and their students, as well as take in the day’s lesson plan.
On the evening of September 26, 2019, the 22 Contra Costa County TOYs, class of 2019-20, including Strohmeyer, will be introduced and honored at the annual Teacher of the Year Gala Dinner, held at the Hilton Concord. The 22 TOYs will be accompanied by their families, friends, and co-workers. The expected crowd of close to 500 will also include numerous other supporters of the program. For more information about this year’s CCCOE TOY Program, please review this earlier-sent news release.
“Whenever I walk into Jennifer’s first-grade classroom, it is obvious students feel loved, respected, and an integral member of the classroom community,” says Moraga School District Director of Curriculum and Instruction Carolyn Parker, Ed.D. I observe students fully engaged in learning, a variety of teaching strategies presented that are aimed at individual-student needs, and a sense of mutual respect between Jennifer and her students. She is a consummate professional who works tirelessly to provide her students the best possible learning environment.”
Dr. Parker continues, “Jennifer has been one of the first teachers to eagerly sign up for the Summer Institutes at Teachers’ College in New York each year and always brings back plenty of information not only aimed at improving her own craft, but for the benefit of her colleagues as well. Her knowledge and skills have had a ripple effect on the Moraga School District. She has led professional-development activities for staff and parents, she serves on our district English Language Arts committee, English Language Arts adoption committee, and has organized and facilitated district Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings aimed at sharing best practices, analyzing student data, and creating school-side goals. Throughout all of the activities and meetings Jennifer has spearheaded, she is known by her peers to be collaborative, and excellent listener, proactive, and an invaluable teacher leader.”
Currently, there are approximately 8,637 teachers educating nearly 178,000 students in Contra Costa County’s public schools. To recognize their efforts and bring much-deserved honor to the teaching profession, the participating school districts in the county named their TOY representatives in mid-March.
The incoming 22 TOYs represent 17 Contra Costa County school districts, the Contra Costa Community College District, and the Contra Costa County Office of Education (CCCOE). Most of these representatives, those who teach grades TK-12, are eligible to compete in the Contra Costa County TOY competition. The two top teachers in the county TOY program will represent Contra Costa County in the California State TOY Program this coming fall.
Note regarding eligible participants:
Each year, one instructor from Contra Costa Community College District is submitted to the TOY program for his/her outstanding body of work with their designated college. The colleges rotate each year between Diablo Valley, Los Medanos, and Contra Costa. (These instructors do not compete in the State Teacher of the Year competition.) This year is Contra Costa College’s turn.
Due to the larger number of students and teachers in their districts, West Contra Costa USD, Mt. Diablo USD, and San Ramon Valley USD are allowed to submit two TOY candidates.
Follow Contra Costa County’s Teacher of the Year program on Twitter and Instagram: #cocotoy