Three teachers from Los Angeles and Orange counties who were among the five 2018 California Teachers of the Year will receive the Los Angeles Dodgers Community Hero Award before Tuesday evening’s game against Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.
Kirsten Farrell is the lead for Venice High School’s Sports Medicine Academy and the Sports Medicine Team facilitator.
As a Regional Occupation Program/Career Technical Education teacher, Farrell’s main focus is preparing students for life after high school by providing hands-on skills that can be transferred to careers.
Farrell takes groups to sports medicine competition trips where they learn to navigate travel, speak publicly, be independent and be responsible to others. He also leads a team of student trainers who are knowledgeable about CPR, wound assessment and emergency action plans.
“What I have taught my students can be compared to a pebble dropped in the water, as the ripples will continue long after I am gone,” Farrell said. “I have taught future doctors, physical therapists, athletic trainers, and paramedics. Because of what has happened in Shop-6 at Venice High School, someone’s life will be saved.”
Gregory Gardiner teaches Advanced Placement classes and started an environmental science program for students with special needs at Edison High School in Huntington Beach. Gardiner has been instrumental in creating an Innovation Lab where students can have hands-on experiences and solve problems.
Lab projects include aquaculture-breeding programs for tilapia, environmental conservation of species programs for trout and white sea bass and a remote-controlled hydrogen fuel cell car project.
Elliot Skolnick, Edison’s Special Abilities Cluster Special Programs administrator, called Gardiner “a walking, talking embodiment of creativity, kindness, positivity, and generosity.”
“There is nothing he will not do to help a student or cause reach their potential,” Skolnick said.
Erin Oxhorn-Gilpin is a first- and second-grade teacher at Northlake Hills Elementary School in Castaic who uses creativity and hands-on lessons to teach her students the basics of reading and writing, according to Janene Maxon, the Castaic Union School District’s assistant superintendent of educational services.
“Erin is always reflective, always thinking of ways in which to improve planning next steps for our students’ continued progress,” Maxon said .
The teachers are being honored on the Dodgers Teacher Appreciation Night, which is being held on National Teacher Appreciation Day, which is observed on Tuesday of the first full week in May. The day is part of Teacher Appreciation Week, the first full week in May.