Top educators honored at 2018 Educator of the Year Awards
The Office of the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools, in partnership with the Educational Employees Credit Union, hosted the annual Educator of the Year Awards Ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 15 at the William Saroyan Theater. The winners of the School Employee and Teacher categories have the opportunity to apply for the California Department of Education awards in 2019.
The Educator of the Year application process begins in March when FCSS receives the completed nomination packets from school districts. Each district has the opportunity to nominate one honoree for each of the three categories. The judging process begins with a committee pre-reading the nomination packets and ranking them. The top applications are given to the final selection committee that narrows the field to three finalists in each category. The winners are chosen by closed ballot. The following winners were chosen in each category:
School Employee of the Year
• Marco E. Franco, Kerman Unified School District – Franco is a Technology Specialist at Kerman-Floyd Elementary School. He has worked in education for eight years. He said of his position, “I highly value my relationship with staff, but more importantly it’s the students I care about the most. My job is not limited to just being a typical computer tech. I want to know my students and the lives they live.”
Administrator of the Year
• Valerie A. Vuicich, Office of the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools – Vuicich is the Administrator of Career Technical Education/Regional Occupational Program. She has worked in education for more than 37 years. She said of her position, “It is important to me that career readiness items for a well-prepared graduate are truly connected to high-quality CTE experiences. I provide input every opportunity to do so.”
Teacher of the Year
• Carmen Garvis, Sanger Unified School District – Garvis is an engineering teacher at Sanger High School. She has been a teacher for 12 years. She said of her position, “I teach the future of the world and it is my job to pass on this passion I have always had for the engineering field. The best feeling as a teacher is when you see the students have the ‘aha’ moment. I have witnessed my engineering students reaching many of these moments while working on their assignments and projects.”
