Five local teachers representing schools in Chula Vista, National City, San Ysidro, Poway, and Del Mar were honored as the 2022-23 San Diego County Teachers of the Year at the 32nd annual “Cox Presents: Salute to Teachers,” which aired On Oct. 2.
The five San Diego County Teacher of the Year are:
• Aimee McCoy, Mesa Verde Middle School, Poway Unified School District
• Jacqueline Ma, Lincoln Acres Elementary, National School District
• Juanita Nunez, San Ysidro School District
• Melissa Rains, Castle Park Middle School, Sweetwater Union High School District
• Stephanie Cluxton, Torrey Hills School, Del Mar Union School District
Nominated by their peers, out of 40 nominees, these five educators will now vie for the California Teachers of the Year, which will be announced sometime in mid-October.
Jackie Ma said that this honor still “does not feel real” but “feels surreal.” Ma has taught at Lincoln Acres Elementary in National City her entire 10 years of teaching, starting with fifth graders, then moving up to sixth graders.
“I work with the most remarkable incredible colleagues at my school,” said Ma. “Everybody goes above and beyond for their students. So, to be nominated by them has been the ultimate peak of honor.”
Ma said her, along with her colleagues, really try to understand each student as a person first, making sure their physical, emotional needs are met and that they are supporting students beyond academics.
“Every day and the end of the day I think if the kids went home happy, they had a good day, they were excited, that is my first goal,” she said. “Anything missed academically, anything that needs reteaching, anything that they need help with, we can do that tomorrow.”
Melissa Rains teaches eighth grade science and is also the social emotional learning resource teacher at Castle Park Middle School in Chula Vista. Rains said she is a teacher who sees a student as a whole person first.
“Even though I am a science teacher, I see the student as a whole child first,” she said. “Students are always greeted at the door, there is a question of the day that checks in on them, we spend a lot of time with connection and community, because I believe the foundation to learning is a student who feels like they are safe, they feel seen by people, and they belong in that space.”
Rains said she hopes some of her efforts have filtered out into her school site as she is an active member of the schools Climate and Culture committee, as well as other committees that look at bringing initiatives to the school that support both staff and students in order to make Castle Park Middle the kind of school the community needs for everyone. She said she was more than honored when she was announced as a teacher of the year.
“The first words out of my mouth that evening when they announced it other than ‘Thank you,” was, ‘This is not a me moment. This is a we moment.’ For anyone who has ever worked at Castle Park, at Sweetwater, or South Bay, there is a huge sense of community in everything we do. We do better as a group, as a unit. It felt like a moment where I got to not only recognize myself, but the countless number of educators, peer professionals, and everyone else that goes into making a school system run well.”
Rains said that teaching middle school students, she goes back to her days as a youth in middle school. She said she experienced bullying, and even now, it provides her empathy for her students.
“It is such an impressionable time in their life, and I see my job as a teacher of the adolescent age, as being a pivot point for them. I am not going to chart their path, but what I can help do is to maybe guide them in a certain direction or give them encouragement to try things that they might not have been interested in before. My belief is that as long as you keep doors open, you will have many choices later down the line,” she said.
Juanita Nunez teaches at Ocean View Hills, Sunset, Smythe, Willow and La Mirada elementary schools in the San Ysidro School District. Nunez is a science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and physical education teacher. This year, she teaches transitional kindergarten, first through third grades with children in special education, which she said is about 300 children weekly. Nunez has taught in San Ysidro for more than 21 years.
“I chose San Ysidro because my heart is there because I come from a border town, so the radiate of love that I have towards my students, teachers, and administrators, that connection that I make as a human being radiates in love,” she said.
Nunez said her first priority is seeing a student as a whole, knowing their backgrounds, and knowing that they see her, it reflects herself.
“My great joy is that my students feel safe,” she said. “I see their smile and see that they feel that they are welcomed in my classes. The joy that I have when I see them build robots, and amazing projects in the engineering program, gives me the joy because STEM is the future. I am seeing this community build a community for the jobs of tomorrow that we need in America.”
