Gabrielino High School history teacher Kathleen Monahan has been named the school’s first-ever “Portrait of an Educator,” an honor recognizing outstanding teachers district-wide for their contributions to education.
Math teacher Jorge Salas and science teacher Tom Velekei were also nominated for the award, which celebrates educators who demonstrate creativity, collaboration, empathy, resilience, and other key traits.
The San Gabriel Unified School District (SGUSD) created the award this year to recognize one standout teacher from each school. All nominees will be honored at a district-wide picnic at Grapevine Arbor on May 14.
Standards for this award are similar to those for a “Portrait of a Graduate”. This includes: creative thinking, collaboration skills, being a global citizen, empathy, healthy communication, and resilience.
Those who won the awards earned not only something shiny to show off, but a district-wide recognition for their exceptional contributions to education.
These nominees try their best to facilitate thinking in their classrooms, help their colleagues, and develop curriculum for our students.
“I have been involved around campus with committees and side counsel on the data teams,” explained Monahan.
This is the first year that SGUSD has decided to present these awards and to be a part of the first year, it is a form of respect to be presented as such an important figure in the community.
All teachers on campus participated in a voting for who should be nominated. Some time later, the three teachers were notified of their accomplishments at a staff meeting.
“I am really flattered, I thought that was really sweet to see the nomination,” said Monahan.
Although the teachers were not expecting the award, all three were grateful for the appreciation.
“I felt appreciated and humbled,” shared Salas. “I was honored to be nominated after more than 20 years of teaching.”
After teaching at Gabrielino for 27 years, Salas feels that these awards will catch the attention of the public and showcase our educational program.
Although it was an unexpected accomplishment, the teachers show their gratitude for the recognition.
“I do not want to put myself out there to be this example of a teacher or anything like that but I am flattered that somebody thought highly enough of what I did to nominate me,” A surprised but grateful Velekei noted.
After another round of voting among Gabrielino teachers, the three nominees found out that it was Monahan to take the prize.
“I’m somebody who doesn’t look for awards or anything like that in my teaching so I’m happy that this happened and it’s nice to see that somebody sees the efforts that you put in when you’re teaching,” said Velekei
The three representatives will be recognized at the district picnic happening in two weeks.
After many years of dedicating their career to students here on campus, these “Portrait of an Educator” awards will show just how much teachers are honored in the district. Not only to their fellow colleagues, but to the community.
