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10 Heroes Making a Difference
If you have never made a list of heroes, you do not know how difficult it is. If you have attempted to compile a hero list, you understand the impossibility of completely defining the group. A hero’s list is a feel, a moment, a sense, a compilation of names. It is about good deeds now done, being done, and to be done. Inland Empire Family Magazine has compiled its first heroes list. A common thread is that most are teachers, either in the true sense that they work out of a classroom, or in the broader definition in that they are leaders who happen to teach. Within these profiles, you will discover the magic of how each makes a difference in the lives of those they touch. With this year’s group, the beneficiaries are children who love music, middle-schoolers, young cancer victims, and children at-risk. Kathleen Alvarez Residence: French Valley Family: Mom Christine; dad Frank; sister Karie; brothers Tom and Mathew; and dog Benton Hero defined: She is a health teacher at West Valley High School in Hemet. Walk into the main office of West Valley High School and a colorful banner announces to all who enter – “Kathleen Alvarez teaches here.” Indeed. With such noted accomplishments as being named the West Valley High School Teacher of the Year and as the Hemet Unified School District Teacher of the Year, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more beloved, more respected educator. Her achievements begin in the classroom. Ironically, it was basketball that eventually brought her to teaching. This is not such a stretch when you consider her point of view that teaching and coaching are very much the same. “It was a natural progression, I think,” says Alvarez. “I am the coach in the classroom. I tell my kids the game plan. If one person fails, it affects the whole team. Parents are the fans – we need them, too!” Alvarez has some fans of her own, too. Kris Logan, principal of West Valley High School, says, “Kathleen Alvarez demonstrates every quality that makes her a successful teacher and leader at the secondary level. She is respected by the staff, students and parents, and maintains the highest expectations for herself. She possesses an endless amount of energy and compassion for her profession...” Alvarez’s influence reaches beyond the classroom as a Link Crew coordinator. It is a national program designed to help incoming freshmen make a smooth transition over to high school. Link Crew leaders include junior and senior students who, with teacher’s guidance, conduct orientations and establish a buddy system that offers help and information to new students. Additionally, as an AVID teacher, Alvarez has been trained to help students in their “advancement via individual determination.” She utilizes successful learning strategies like note taking and organization as a way of empowering her students to be their very best. Despite all the accolades, this teacher remains focused on her students. “I hope that they remember not only what they learned, but who they are,” she insists. “That I have given them enough tools to be successful in life.” With this heroic spirit of dedication it’s easy to see why Kathleen Alvarez, who has taught for 10 years, is at the top of her game. –By Kerri Mabee Tom McMahon Residence: Murrieta Family: Wife Debbie; four adult children, daughters Melissa and Debby, and sons Michael and Jason; four grandchildren; and a fifth grandchild due in December Hero defined: He is the director of bands at Vail Ranch Middle School in Temecula. Tom McMahon had planned for a military career after he graduated from Kennedy High School in Orange County. He had a congressional appointment to the Air Force Academy but a slight heart murmur derailed those plans and led him to become a different kind of hero. McMahon has gone on to become a well-loved music teacher who donates his time to spreading music lessons to middle school students and elementary school children whose home schools no longer have a music program due to budget cuts. “I went with my second love, music, and it’s been good to me,” says McMahon. Among the cool things he got to do with his musical talent was dress up as a toy soldier and play drums in the Disneyland holiday parade during his college years at Long Beach State. That’s when he had a summer job in the character department at the amusement park. After college, McMahon taught music and band at Rio Mesa High School in Oxnard, then at Rim of the World High School in Lake Arrowhead. After a 14-year hiatus from teaching, during which he managed events at convention centers, McMahon returned to teaching because he missed the students. He’s been at Vail Ranch Middle School for the past 10 years. “These kids are like sponges. They’re still open about stuff. They’ll take a challenge and run with it, even with the music,” McMahon says. McMahon directs six bands at Vail Ranch and volunteers weekly each spring to teach music at Pauba Elementary in Temecula. He also takes his Vail Ranch students to other elementary schools for concerts, and he directs the Valley Winds Community Band, an adult group. He even finds time to play the Timpani drums for the Inland Valley Symphony Orchestra. At Vail Ranch, nearly 300 students benefit from McMahon’s love of music, including about 40 children in the extracurricular Jazz Ensemble. “I just want to make sure kids understand and appreciate music,” he says, making the tremendous gift he’s offering them sound so simple. – By Amy Bentley Shelbi Wilson Residence: Colton Family: Single Hero defined: She teaches English, social studies, health and physical education, is the volleyball coach, and leads the Teen Mother program at Lincoln High School in Riverside. The spark that led Shelbi Wilson to a continuation school like Lincoln High School came to life when she worked for group homes as a college student. Part of her job was to drive a van and drop off the students at schools like Lincoln High. “One of the things that I found out was that the kids loved school,” she says. “A group home is a very hard life for some kids and school was just an incredible slice of heaven for them.” Don’t let this give you the impression that Wilson, one of three 2005-06 Teachers of the Year in Riverside County, coddles those who walk into her classroom. “My first thought is not even to educate them, but to get them with the right attitude. A lot of times when they come into a continuation school, there may be a sense of failure. My goal is to motivate them, to let them know it doesn’t matter what their circumstances are, let’s get the right attitude and let’s get going because we have a lot of work to do to get you caught up.” Wilson works closely with the teen mothers taking classes at Lincoln; one of her proudest achievements is receiving a $1.1 million grant in conjunction with the Riverside Community Health Foundation for a program called Project X-Men. This program is aimed at the young fathers. It is taught by other young men and is designed to get these young fathers to develop a positive vision of their lives and make the right decisions to make their goals possible. At the end of the day, Wilson knows that she has left nothing undone. “I never say that I wish there was more that I could do for them, because if there is more, I’m going to find it. I expect a lot from my students, but I don’t expect anything from them that I wouldn’t do myself. I’m a full-time student right now. You better believe I show my students if I can work all day and be a full-time college student, so can you. I just have really high expectations for them. I know that they can do it.” – By -Michael J. Medley Marta Gonzales Residence: Moreno Valley Family: Husband Daniel; and adult sons Jeremy and Christopher Hero defined: She is a Title I/No Child Left Behind teacher (improving the academic achievement of the disadvantaged), grades 2-5, at Moreno Elementary School. Excellence from dawn to dusk – that’s Marta Gonzales. Starting the day with a clean slate is critical for opening young minds to learning, “especially when they come in with baggage from home.” Whether that “baggage” is frustration over losing a pair of shoes or an argument with a sibling, it carries into the school day if not countered with a positive force. “I want to make these students safe, happy, and comfortable for the time I have them,” she says. “I don’t want them worrying about what happened on the way out the door.” The day isn’t over when the last bell rings. Gonzales visits student homes after school and on weekends. “One of my visits to a home in a neighborhood is a big deal, and it takes care of any problems we might have,” she says. “These households welcome me, and I also enjoy telling parents how well their children are doing in class.” To parents, Gonzales offers sound advice. “We need kids to read traffic signs, read at home, read menus. Get a sports magazine for your child or have them read grocery ads,” she says. “It doesn’t have to be a chapter book.” For someone who started in the district 15 years ago as a noon duty janitor and cook while pursuing her own higher education and credentials, Gonzales quickly made an impact on students. Whether as an instructor’s assistant, special education teacher, or now as the school’s only Title I instructor, she’s “kept kids on fire with education.” “I was late in getting my own education,” she adds. “So I tell the kids, ‘Don’t give up.’ You want to be a lifelong learner.” Part of that learning is gaining the ability to read and speak in front of others. “I help them find their niche and use all modalities – music, singing, dancing,” Gonzales says. “We move about the room, get excited about learning and sometimes just get silly. “It’s all about mutual respect. It’s about English learners not being afraid to speak in public. Right now, I can say to them…you may not know how to read, but I don’t know how to bat a ball or ride a bike.” In making that connection, Gonzales helps at-risk students believe in themselves and motivates them to do their very best. – By Nancy Sidoruk Tess Allen Residence: Upland Family: Two daughters, Kim, 21, and Kara, 18 Hero defined: She teaches language arts and history at Rancho Cucamonga Middle School. Some people might consider Tess Allen, the 2005 Cucamonga School District Teacher of the Year, a hero simply for the fact that she has the courage to spend her working days with seventh- and eighth-grade kids. “I love these kids,” she beams, “but people say that to me all the time. ‘My gosh, how could you be working with those kids? They’re awful!’ But 99.9% of the kids here are just ‘tall’ elementary school kids. They still bring me flowers on Mother’s Day.” She considers the ability to make a human connection with the students one of the most important qualities a teacher at any level can have, but especially so at the middle school level. It is a lesson that she tries to get across to the adults she works with who are trying to enter the teaching profession. Allen mentors others by serving as a master teacher, a beginning teacher support and assessment support provider, and a professor at Claremont Graduate University. “I really respect my profession and I don’t think everybody’s cut out for this job. Because it’s not a job. It can’t be a job. The kids are too important. They have to make a connection with a teacher somewhere so they know they are important and can push themselves.” If she does not see a proper level of heart and love for the students in a prospective teacher, Allen will not hesitate to advise them to seek another profession. “That might sound harsh to some people but I feel very strongly about that. It’s a calling. You’re affecting the lives of so many people, you can’t take it lightly.” For Allen, that connection includes teaching her students that there is nothing they cannot achieve. She always lets them know about her own working-class background, her loving parents, her father who worked as a migrant farm worker as a teenager and then worked as a tree trimmer for the city of Upland. “He made a life for himself and his family and worked very hard to make sure that I could go to college. That’s important to me.” – By Michael J. Medley Heather Baubault Residence: Temecula Family: Son Corey, 16 Hero defined: She is a kindergarten teacher at Crowne Hill Elementary in Temecula. For 21 years, Heather Baubault has been dedicated to more than just the craft of teaching. She has devoted herself to improving children’s lives. All you have to do is step into her classroom to see that learning – lots of learning – is happening. Everywhere you look is a colorful, happy testament to the proud achievements of her students. “Teaching is really a calling,” she admits. “I have this need to nurture and to learn.” That need does not only apply to the children in her classroom. For the past eight years, Baubault has served her professional colleagues as a mentor teacher – ushering in, observing, supporting and guiding incoming teachers who are new to the profession. Teaching can be a scary thing at first, but Baubault is there to see that young educators get the tools they need to be successful. Karen Johnson, principal of Crowne Hill Elementary, notes, “She is a model teacher – a teacher of teachers. She takes each individual child into account in her planning.” Baubault’s efforts to guide and inspire reach into the local community where she has served as a go-between for Katrina survivors in search of resources and placement. Also, she was recently certified by CASA – a court-appointed, special advocate for children who come from broken homes or reside with a foster family or in a group home. These are children who often go neglected, but Baubault knows this is an opportunity to have a positive impact on the life of a child who needs her. Her advocacy gives a voice to children mired in the world of courts, social workers and bureaucracy. Still, there are challenges. It’s her ability to filter out the negative and focus only on the positive that gets her through. “I try to look at the big picture, put things in perspective.” Of course, loving her job is a big part of that. “I’ve never had a day when I didn’t want to come to school!” The secret of her success? “ I approach every child as if they were my own. Every child deserves a chance. They just have so much potential.” – By Kerri Mabee Brenda Agard Residence: Riverside Family: Two cats. (They don’t pay rent, don’t pay the mortgage, but insist on living there.) Hero defined: She teaches language arts to ninth- and 10th-grade students at Norco High School in Norco. “ I used to sell cruises and now I sell curriculum,” says Brenda Agard, who worked as a travel agent during a nine-year gap between junior and senior years of college. By the time she set foot in the classroom as a teacher, she was committed to her purpose – to connect with kids. “What will I do today to make them remember, so I can create a hook to hang other ideas on next semester? I want them to get the spirit back and feel it’s worthwhile to come into my room for 50 minutes.” Especially today, when school competes more and more with life. “Kids just don’t want to be invisible, so if I recognize and see the grown-up in them, it keeps them self-disciplined and wanting to come to school.” For Agard, it’s all about context. “It’s different when kids realize there are other things going on around them. My parents wondered about things, read books, and I learned from them. There are things about learning that you just need to touch and feel. The world is bigger than Corona-Norco.” In Agard’s class, sometimes the world is a Greek drama. “I knew an evaluation was coming. What was I going to do for that kid who wasn’t going to major in English in college?” she recalls thinking while teaching context in Greek drama. “So, I stood up on my chair and asked…where did this piece of drama come from?” Today, Agard continues to appeal to all her students’ senses, even to the point of dressing up and playing a role to convey a lesson. “When you’re 5, you’re excited about learning to read. In high school, you’re thinking about other things,” she says. To build back that excitement, “I’m willing to go out on that edge.” – By Nancy Sidoruk Taylor Dixon Residence: Corona Family: Lives with mother Sharron Close and brother John, 9 H ero defined: She is a sixth-grader at Crossroads Christian School in Corona who cut and sent her hair to Locks of Love, a Florida nonprofit providing hairpieces to children suffering hair loss due to illness and medical treatments. You’d think that most sixth-graders would be more concerned with the latest games than they are about the world around them. That’s not the case with Taylor Dixon – an example of a young person who is at the same time childlike and wise beyond her years. This thoughtful girl recently cut her more-than-waist-length hair to chin-length, sending her beautiful tresses to Locks of Love, a Florida nonprofit providing hairpieces to children suffering hair loss due to illness and medical treatments. “I was on a trip and saw a little girl without hair,” Taylor says. “So, I asked my mom about it and about why kids like that were teased.” But the brevity of her encounter didn’t mean that her interest was short-lived. Taylor kept thinking about children who suffer hair loss and wondered what she could do to help. “I think kids really can help,” she says. “And it doesn’t matter if they’re small. Other kids should do what I did, too, because they’d be helping other people.” Yet, while she acts on her concerns for others’ needs, Taylor also acts just like any other 11-year-old. “My Pokemon book is huge! Wanna see?,” she asks, beaming. Her enthusiasm would make anyone want to flip through both of her 3-inch binders full of a five-year collection of Pokemon cards. And Taylor could probably calculate the exact number of cards in that collection very quickly. “I like math and science. I’m good at math because I’m good at doing things in my head. And I like science because it’s about studying animals.” With her interest in animals, it’s no surprise that Taylor enjoys horseback riding, but her favorite sport is swimming. “And I wish it snowed sometimes, to throw snowballs.” All this joy and enthusiasm from one so young and generally so quiet is an encouraging thing to see. But most of all, it’s a blessing that a child would do something different and special – simply because it was all she knew she could give. “After I cut my hair, my head felt a lot lighter than it used to. But it made me feel good spiritually because I was helping kids,” Taylor says. “I never felt like that before, and I want to do it again. Yeah, after I grow my hair for another two years, I’ll do it again.” – By Nancy Sidoruk Diana Robinson Residence: Idyllwild Family: Single; one grown daughter and three grandchildren Hero defined: She is a leader and camp counselor with the Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council. She is a teacher in the Hemet Unified School District. It is not hard to understand why Diana Robinson is such a valuable asset to local Girl Scouts when you learn that her love of and experience with the outdoors began so early. “I’ve always been an outdoors person,” she says. “We started camping as a family when I was less than a year old.” Her love of the environment and of scouting grew hand in hand. “I went into scouting when I was in second grade,” she says. “I went straight through for 10 years. I went to summer camp up here in Idyllwild and loved that and that grew into becoming a counselor at camp.” Robinson worked for 12 summers at Girl Scout Camp as a counselor here in California and other western states. “I think, through the camp experience, mostly, is where I got that real love for the outdoors and environmental education.” She received her master’s degree in environmental education from Cal State San Bernardino and is sharing the benefit of her learning not only with the scouts, but with those who would lead them. She is a mentor and trainer for those adults who would like to be Girl Scout leaders and they can be as delightful a challenge for her as the kids. “The kids are really eager to learn and they are willing to try anything. The leaders come, sometimes, with inhibitions,” she explains. “They’ve never been camping or their idea of camping is with a motor home and electricity. Once you get past those inhibitions, they’re just as eager to learn as the kids are.” She is also a facilitator for Project Wild and Project Learning Tree, two programs that help children learn about the environment. She respects the role that today’s youngsters will play in such matters. “They are going to be the key to, more or less, keeping the earth livable,” she says. “The continuation of the earth as we know it depends on this younger generation. They’re the ones who are going to be making the laws and making the opinions of the people who make our laws.” Having just overcome breast cancer, Robinson is considering retirement. The good news, though, as she explains, is that “I can’t see myself getting out of scouting. I’ll always be in that.” – By Michael Medley Kent Paxton Residence: San Bernardino Family: Wife Kris; and son Ian Hero defined: He is a Children’s Network officer for the county of San Bernardino. “I’ve spent my entire career working with at-risk kids,” Kent Paxton says, “typically the kids who are institutionalized, who are abuse victims, kids in juvenile justice, and in the mental health system who have moderate to severe emotional-behavioral problems. They wind up in foster care because of abuse and neglect, and ultimately juvenile justice.” That career path has brought him to the top of a program that has become a model for the rest of the state, the Children’s Network of San Bernardino County. In 1985, there was a need to better coordinate the public agencies that helped at-risk families in San Bernardino County. “We had multiple families being served by multiple agencies,” says Paxton. “Those systems did not talk to each other. We didn’t talk to each other; we didn’t coordinate our best intervention strategies; we didn’t share resources.” The grand jury recommended an interagency council for the county’s children and there was not a handy manual available to help Paxton and his colleagues put it together. When Children’s Network began in 1986, “we were it,” he says. “There were two other counties, Fresno and Ventura, that had something like this started, but we were the definitive model in 1988 when the state Legislature took a look at this. Now there’s about 45 other counties out of the 58 or so that have some sort of infrastructure, like Children’s Network.” The project that has Paxton excited right now is SART, which stands for Screening, Assessment, Referral and Treatment and targets children from birth through 5. “We’re looking at young children who have been prenatally exposed to drugs and alcohol,” Paxton explains. “Those are the kids who have the neurological damage that lead to all the behaviors we see that gets them in special education, gets them in foster care, that gets them into trouble when they’re teenagers.” “Before I retire, my goal is to get our SART system up and going in this county for young children. If we can do a good job of assessment and get them into treatment prior to age 5, the prognosis is much better for those kids in terms of staying in school, succeeding in school, staying out of trouble with law enforcement as they get older, and so on.” Retire? That’s not the kind of word local families want to hear from a champion for their cause like Kent Paxton. – By Michael Medley |
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