Migliori named  l991 County  Teacher  of  the  Year

Betty Migliore, for 35 years an elementary teacher of Kindergarten through fifth grade, and for the past three years a teacher on special assignment in the Santa Maria/Bonita School District, was named l991 Santa Barbara County  Teacher of the Year.  The announcement was made by County Superintendent of Schools Bill Cirone at the October 4 county  school board meeting.

Mrs. Migliori was selected by a five-person committee composed of teachers and representatives from PTAs  and school boards.

Superintendent Cirone, whose office coordinates the program in Santa Barbara County,  expressed hearty congratulations for Mrs. Migliori's accomplishments in Santa Maria classrooms.

"She advocates for educating every students as an individual to his or her full potential, and she is a teacher every moment of the day, wherever she is, whatever she is doing.  She is an excellent example of all the outstanding teachers in this county, and a wonderful spokesperson for the teaching profession. These are precisely the traits we hope to encourage in conferring this annual award,"  Cirone said.

Migliori was among the first Impact II award winners to take the learning center concept and make it manageable in a classroom.  She was also among the first teachers awarded Mentor Teaching funds, and her projects have been selected for five successive years.  She was named a Master Teacher for student teachers from Indiana University and Cal Poly University, and was listed in the 1987-’88 and ‘88-’89 Who’s Who in American Education volumes.

Mrs. Migliori, who was named 1990-91 Santa Maria-Bonita School District Teacher of the Year,  organized the first district-wide business-industry visitation day;  published an early childhood teacher aide book; authored a set of hands-on activities to go with “Animal Crackers.”  In addition, she has served as president and vice president of the Santa Maria Valley Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma,  sponsoring discussions on such topics as year-round education, drug abuse, Hospice. She also has given guest lectures for Head Start and area preschools.

She holds a B.S. from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana; an M.A. from Cal Poly, and has completed graduate classes at Northwestern University.

Students, colleagues, and administrators all sing her praises.  “She taught me leadership and responsibility—to myself and to others.  If I ever become a teacher, I’d like to be like her!” wrote former student Caleb Shaffer.

“Betty is an example of a pro-active life-long learner.  She continues to be a great asset to our profession,” wrote fellow teacher Carol M. Bantz.

“What I do in the classroom is to show children, through modeling, that the classroom can be a peaceful, motivating, challenging kind of place without being overly competitive,” wrote Migliori in her application.

“The three fundamental requirements of society are applicable to good teaching—interaction, understanding, and cooperation,” she added.

“What a teacher does is awe-inspiring.  An artist can spend a year on a single piece of work and the critics will rain down praise.  I often have 30 masterpieces at the end of the year—art which will last for years.  I am sometimes amazed by what I have helped develop.  There is the smile when just a few months before there were tears.  There is the ability to reason, when just a few months before there was confusion.  There is self assurance when before there was self doubt.”              

County Superintendent Bill Cirone also named one Santa Barbara Teacher of Excellence:  Leslie Ann Gravitz, a third grade teacher at Main School in Carpinteria.  

As 1991 Teacher of the Year, Mrs. Migliori's nomination will be reviewed for consideration as California Teacher of the Year.  The California winner will then be submitted for recognition as National Teacher of the Year.