Bonsall teacher contends for county’s top honors

SAN DIEGO – A Bonsall teacher will be honored for her commitment to teaching and learning at this year’s "Cox Presents: A Salute to Teachers." The Academy Awards-style extravaganza is celebrating its 25th anniversary of recognizing local teachers on Saturday, Oct. 10.

Bonsall Elementary teacher Denise Barker is a three-time Teacher of the Year honoree and has taught at the school for 24 years. Each year, her kindergarten students work on demonstration projects and give oral presentations on a special skill they possess.

Their expertise includes things like how to plant a seed, hit a baseball, or jump rope, to name just a few. At the end of the year, the Escondido resident creates personal scrapbooks for each student to celebrate what she believes is the most important year of a child’s education.

The show will highlight the county’s 26,000 public school teachers and feature celebrity emcees and presenters, musical and dance performances, and the announcement of the 2015-16 San Diego County Teachers of the Year who will go on to represent the region at the California Teacher of the Year program later this year.

A total of 44 nominees for Teacher of the Year were selected by their respective school districts. Of those, five will be named County Teacher of the Year. The top five teachers are selected based on student achievement, professional development and community involvement, teaching philosophy and personal style, knowledge of educational issues and trends, promotion and development of the teaching profession, accountability and ability to serve as ambassadors of education.

"Cox Presents: A Salute To Teachers" begins at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10 at the Balboa Theater and will air live on Channel 4 San Diego. Tickets can be purchased online at www.sandiegotheatres.org/a-salute-to-teachers, by calling the Balboa Theatre box office at 570-1100 (all San Diego area codes), or at the Balboa Theatre box office located at 868 4th Ave. in downtown San Diego.

For more information about the show, visit www.sdcoe.net/salute.