Peter van Duinwyk named l998 County Teacher of Year

Peter van Duinwyk, for 32 years a teacher of Honors American Government and Sheltered American Government and Economics at Santa Barbara High School, was named 1998 Santa Barbara County Teacher of the Year. The announcement was made at a press conference April 25 by County Superintendent of Schools Bill Cirone.

Mr. van Duinwyk, one of a number of outstanding countywide nominees for the honor, was selected by a five-person committee composed of teachers and representatives from PTAs  and school boards. 

Vedemarie Ruiz Alvarez-Flores a sixth grade bilingual teacher at Juan Pacifico Ontiveros School in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District, was named Teacher of Excellence.

Superintendent Cirone expressed hearty congratulations for Mr. van Duinwyk’s professionalism, enthusiasm, and successes with a broad range of students.

Mr. van Duinwyk received a B.A. and secondary teacher credential from UC Santa Barbara and took course work at California State University/San Francisco while on active duty in the military.  He completed his M.A. and earned an administrative credential from UCSB as well.

He was selected by the teacher education department at UCSB to be a full-time instructor for the secondary social studies education program, taught courses there and supervised prospective teachers.  His second masters degree thesis was adopted and used by the assistant dean for elementary and secondary teacher education in determining successful placement of student teachers.  He was also the first mentor teachers selected in the Santa Barbara High School District.

In 1970 van Duinwyk was named Santa Barbara Optimists Teacher of the Year.  He was also named best instructor in the 6th U.S. Army Area Intelligence School and was honored by the Santa Barbara Moose.  In 1992, 93, and 94 he was named Santa Barbara High School Teacher of the Year.

“The fundamental idea that each mind, each opinion, and each attitude is important has guided me to do my utmost to insure the special development of that dignity,” he wrote in his application.

“It was our Constitutional tradition of faith in our citizens’ ability to reason that led me to force, cajole, trick, argue, and humor my students into situations where they must reason...Using dilemmas, open-ended questions, balanced arguments, and just posing unanswerables has served to stimulate all manner of interactions.”

Mr. van Duinwyk served on the Mayor’s Committee on Youth and on his library’s board of directors.  He helped with the creation of a public park, the corner Green in Montecito and has been involved with numerous activities designed to  engage students in their community.

Wrote student Brian Kasch:  “I have had many exceptional teachers over the years who have profoundly influenced my intellectual development, but even among the most inspiring, Mr. van Duinwyk stand out...His course was like a great book with each day being a new chapter...Mr. van Duinwyk has expanded my horizons and sparked my interest as only the best teachers can.”

Wrote parent, teacher and SITE council member Roberta Guigliano:  “I have observed Mr. van Duinwyk with students of all academic abilities.  He treats each student with respect and tries to foster an enthusiasm of learning.”

Wrote Santa Barbara High School Counselor Rose Hernandez:  “Peter is very positive and enthusiastic with all of his students and is always willing to go the extra mile to motivate them.  He sets high standards of achievement and behavior for them and works hard to help them achieve this...He is a  popular, innovative, productive energizer of both students and teachers at our school... He was instrumental in developing sheltered U.S. Government and sheltered Economics classes for the LEP students.”

Wrote students Felicia Hunter, Barbara Robinson, Marc Murray and Natika Johnson:  “Mr. van Duinwyk’s class was a really hard class for us.  We are special education students and it is a college prep class.  He gave us a chance to be in a class with really smart students and always found a way for us to succeed.”

Van Duinwyk’s nomination will next be reviewed for consideration as California Teacher of the Year.  The California winner will then proceed into consideration for National Teacher of the Year. 

As Santa Barbara County Teacher of the Year, Mr. van Duinwyk will be available to speak countywide, and can be reached at Santa Barbara High School or at the County Education Office, by calling Nancy Emerson at 964-4711, ext. 5281.