Six Orange County teachers were honored with Teachers of the Year awards Thursday.
The instructors will receive a $25,000 reward at a gala to be held this fall.
The winners are:
— Tracy Havens, who teaches second grade at Hicks Canyon Elementary School in the Tustin Unified School District;
— Catherine Reinhardt-Zacair of Fullerton College;
— Megan Lee, who teaches kindergarten at Loara Elementary in the Anaheim Elementary School District;
— Jeannette Aguilera, a third-grade teacher at Centralia Elementary School in the Centralia Elementary School District;
— Darcy Blake of Ladera Vista Junior High School of the Arts in the Fullerton School District;
— Erin Bro of San Clemente High School in the Capistrano Unified School District.
Havens started teaching in Hillsboro, Oregon, in 2001. She started working in Tustin the next year. She has been with Hicks since 2005.
Reinhardt-Zacair started teaching at Fullerton College 10 years ago and is a French language instructor.
Lee switched to a transitional Kindergarten class two years ago after nine years with the school. Lee is known for “family meetups” that include field trips as well as a buddy system that paired her students with preschoolers.
Aguilera, who has taught for about 10 years, helped establish her school’s inaugural “Leadership Day,” which invited the community in for student-led tours showing leadership projects.
Blake has been teaching English and creative writing at Ladera Vista for 20 years and last year served as the school’s leader for re-designation on the state Schools to Watch program.
Bro coordinates San Clemente High’s Advancement Via Individual Determination, or AVID, program and is a director on the district’s program.