Teachers

Six Glendale teachers were among 220 Southern California teachers honored Thursday at a special beach party hosted by Gladstone's Malibu. Sam Levering, Jim Smiley and Scott Sund from Crescenta Valley High School and Carol Driffill, Mary Hazlett and Cathi Lander from Glendale High School were all honored at the eighth annual party hosted by Gladstone's Malibu. Students nominate teachers they think should be honored, said Christine Lloyd, a spokeswoman for Gladstone's.

Alecia Foster NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- For those in the school district's human resources department, hiring teachers is a year-round project. "This is the crunch time right now," said Dreda Lutz, assistant director of human resources for Glendale Unified. District officials will continue their search this summer -- traditionally the busiest time for hiring teachers -- alongside thousands of others throughout the country. Glendale officials say most of their hiring needs for the year have been met -- about 101 teachers have been hired so far. A dozen more still need to be hired by the fall.

Red ribbons weren?t the only thing dotting school campuses recently. Teachers at Mountain Avenue Elementary had red faces as they huffed and puffed their way into better shape with West Coast Boot Camp. For the second year, the teachers took park in the fitness camp that conducted classes after school in support of Red Ribbon week. ?The teachers want to become healthier and make better choices,? said principal Rebecca Witt, who said that the exercise regime is in line with the values that are the basis of Red Ribbon Week.

Tim Willert DOWNTOWN -- Raysa Puig will do whatever it takes to make learning English easier, including singing, chanting and rhyming. "When you sing silly songs, it's a good way for them to get used to new words and phrases," said Puig, who teaches Limited English Proficient second-graders at Cerritos Elementary. Toll Middle School English Language Development teacher Darise Kiesendahl prefers relaxation as a teaching technique. "You want to lower their level of stress and make them feel comfortable," Kiesendahl said.

Gary Moskowitz Standing in front of a room of eager students and teaching math problems or earth sciences is one thing, but getting up onstage and performing a dance routine in front of the whole student body is something entirely different. For more than 10 teachers at Columbus Elementary School, Friday was not only a celebration of Flag Day but also a chance to perform their second annual Staff Talent Show at three student assemblies. Grant Baciocco stood in front of the curtain with a guitar and improvised songs from words suggested by students.

Alecia Foster NORTHEAST GLENDALE -- Glendale students had many questions on their minds following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on America: Why did it happen? Where do we go from here? What does this mean to our country? Teachers knew students would be looking to them for answers. "It is our expectation that we help kids deal with these issues, and there are many," said Glendale Unified Supt. Jim Brown. Shortly following the attacks, district officials and a small group of teacher specialists moved quickly to assemble a resource guide for teachers.

Gary Moskowitz GLENDALE -- You, too, could be a teacher in just a few months. State Sen. Jack Scott (D-Glendale) announced last week the passage of Senate Bill 57 by the Assembly Education Committee, which could allow individuals to become teachers in a few months as opposed to two years. Scott said the bill is designed to encourage interested people who would make good public school teachers to pursue the profession by giving them a chance to prove their teaching skills at a quicker pace.

Darleene Barrientos Students washing cars at Lincoln Elementary School Tuesday were having a little too much fun, treating their teachers to a complimentary car wash as part of Teachers and Staff Appreciation Week. Parents and students throughout Glendale Unified School District thanked their teachers with sweets, handwritten cards and services like the car wash. The service, however, might have been more of a joy for the students than the teachers.

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — Wilson Middle School students Wednesday named types of quadrilaterals and proved Pythagorean’s theorem in some of the lessons in Paula Jackson’s seventh-grade math class, one of 12 stops for teachers from Toll, Rosemont and Roosevelt middle schools. Every year for almost a decade, teachers have observed, inspected, recorded and shared everything they see in their peers’ classrooms as part of an instruction and curriculum improvement program.