Three TUSD Teachers Recognized with Raytheon Leaders in Education Award
The program annually honors four PreK-12 teachers who demonstrate exceptional classroom performance, leadership skills and support for their peers. This year, three TUSD teachers were selected: Holly Wright (preschool, Miller Elementary School), Martha Isiderio-Gutierrez (6th grade math inclusion, Pistor Middle School) and Leslie Ferre (STEM, Wakefield Middle School).
Holly Wright
The preschool program at Miller is inclusive, with Exceptional Education and regular education students being taught together.
“I love the fact that in early childhood education we have the ability to learn through hands-on, interactive play, where I can tie any and all standards into play, where we can just have fun. We can do a lot of counting, we can do a lot of language and literacy where we can create it into any kind of dramatic theme,” Holly says.
Martha Isiderio-Gutierrez
Martha plays many roles at Pistor, from 6th grade math inclusion teacher to Student Council advisor, Exceptional Education department lead and IEP advocate. She’s also a teacher mentor for other international teachers in TUSD. As a teacher, she spends a lot of time getting to know her students.
“What are the things that they are doing every single day beyond the classroom? I’m really looking for a little conversation with the kids every single day, so they’re really comfortable telling me what’s going on, what they got for Christmas, those little things that really matters to them,” Martha says.
Leslie Ferre
Leslie originally worked as a consulting engineer but got into teaching STEM because of the problem-solving and collaboration aspects similar to her previous career. As the STEM teacher at Wakefield, she now manages the school’s STEM fix-it shop, where students have a chance to use science, technology, engineering and math to repair broken items.
"My goal is that my students realize they're capable of more than they think they are, and they leave here with the confidence to try things even if they're not sure that they can be successful at them,” says Leslie.
Congratulations to Holly, Martha and Leslie!
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