News Release
June 1, 2007
Touch of Class Conference draws educators statewide
Educators from around the state convened in Santa Barbara today to celebrate teaching and engage in an exciting endeavor to embolden and enlighten their profession.
Jointly hosted by the California Teachers of the Year Foundation and the Santa Barbara County Education Office, the “Touch of Class” Conference brought past recipients of the California State Department of Education Teacher of the Year Award to the Fess Parker Doubletree Resort to provide local educators with the latest and most innovative teaching strategies.
A series of workshops presented by the California Teachers of the Year provided more than 100 educators with insights, innovations, and expertise, and celebrated the honorable and noble teaching profession.
Said Santa Barbara County Superintendent of Schools Bill Cirone, whose office helped coordinate the event: “This was a valuable opportunity for teachers of the finest sort, both from around the state and here in Santa Barbara County, to collaborate on making their teaching more dynamic and the learning of their students that much richer.”
The conference was keynoted by Cirone, the 2007 California County Superintendent of the Year, who has provided leadership and outspoken advocacy on behalf of teachers in the county and around the state. His keynote address provided a larger vision of where the teaching profession is currently, and where teachers can take it.
In the concluding address for the conference, world-renowned leadership expert and teaching advocate Joan Goldsmith emphasized the pivotal role of teachers in our society. Dr. Goldsmith has provided thousands of teachers with the ideas and insights that bring a zest back into their teaching. Her presentation focused on how teachers can be leaders in our communities by fostering in their own classrooms the democracy that is at the heart of our nation.
The California Teachers of the Year Foundation, established in 2000, has dedicated itself to enriching and emboldening the teaching profession. Each year it celebrates the five teachers receiving the California Department of Education’s Teacher of the Year Award with a celebration in Sacramento. In addition, the foundation provides the orientation and guidance for these Teachers of the Year (TOYs) as they engage in the myriad activities of their year-long tenure, including group excursions to tour Apple Computers, visit educational institutions in Japan, and assist at the Distinguished Schools Ceremony in Anaheim. In its efforts to provide more assistance to teachers across the state, the foundation has also sponsored workshops to enable teachers to learn and collaborate in the most innovative and successful teaching practices. Seeking a venue for this conference, the TOY Foundation gained the organizational assistance of the Santa Barbara County Education Office.
Further information is available by contacting Eric Burrows, social studies teacher, San Marcos High School and 2005 California Teacher of the Year, at 967-4581.