Madera teacher named Elementary Educator of the Year

MADERA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - A teacher successful the North Valley has been named the Elementary Educator of the Year successful the State of California. 

Shawna Petrosian has been teaching in Madera Unified for 30 years and has taught at Nishimoto Elementary School since it opened successful 2005. 

"I bash a batch of cooperative activities wherever the kids enactment together. They person to occupation lick and they're really teaching each other, which is beauteous astonishing to see," said Petrosian. 

Growing up with 2 parents who were besides teachers, Petrosian ever knew 1 time she would go a teacher too. 

This year, Petrosian was nominated for Teacher of the Year representing Region 7 successful California, which spans from Kern County to Merced. And this past weekend, Petrosian was honored arsenic California's Elementary Educator of the Year. 

Principal Erin Falke says nominating Petrosian was an casual prime due to the fact that she has immoderate of the highest achievements successful the district, with implicit 80 percent of her students showing proficiency successful mathematics and reading. 

Petrosian is besides a literacy manager and holds respective enactment roles.

But is the mode she challenges students successful the schoolroom that sets her apart. 

"For example, if we're doing math, and I springiness them a first-grade modular and they person mastered that standard, they'll say, tin you springiness america thing harder? Can you springiness america immoderate math? And past I'll possibly springiness them thing that they mightiness spot successful 2nd people oregon possibly 3rd grade," said Petrosian. 

Those challenges promote her students to beryllium autarkic thinkers, portion besides fostering teamwork and a schoolroom that is noisy successful the champion way.

"There's thing much breathtaking arsenic a main erstwhile you locomotion successful and you spot kids truthful excited astir what they're doing and begging the teacher for a challenge, wanting thing harder, wanting thing more," said Falke. 

This is the 2nd consecutive twelvemonth the California League of Educators has recognized a teacher from Madera Unified arsenic the State Elementary School Educator of the Year. 

"Well, it symbolizes to maine the hard enactment we bash present successful Madera Unified. Teachers don't bash it alone. I person an astonishing squad of first-grade teachers present that I enactment with," said Petrosian. "We program together, we enactment with each the kids. These are not conscionable my kids, they are everyone's kids."

Petrosian says her fig 1 portion of proposal to different teachers is to genuinely cognize their students, beryllium compassionate, physique a relationship, and emotion them, successful return, they’ll privation to bash their champion for them.