For Other Professionals
May 2007
Aurora Educator Wins National Teacher Appreciation Day Honor
Vanessa Garcia of Smith Elementary Submits Winning Essay to ColorinColorado.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. — ColorinColorado.org, the first major bilingual Web site for parents and educators of English language learners, has named Vanessa Garcia of Smith Elementary in Aurora, Illinois, as a winner in the national "Teacher We Appreciate" contest. Ms. Garcia wrote about her second grade teacher who inspired her to enter the teaching profession.
Ms. Garcia will be awarded a video iPod loaded with several of ColorinColorado.org's best podcasts.
"Teachers are so important in the lives of their students," said Noel Gunther, executive director of ColorinColorado.org. "Educators who teach English Language Learners face unique challenges, and our mission is to help teachers meet those challenges with proven strategies and best practices."
"My second grade teacher, Mrs.Rhodes, always encouraged us and made learning fun," wrote Ms. Garcia, who teaches a first grade bilingual class. "She valued our culture and that was so important. I became a teacher because of her influence. I went back to visit her when I was doing my student teaching, and she still had work that I had done when I was in her second grade. She had saved all of those things for 12 years."
Colorín Colorado is a free, Web-based service that provides information, activities and advice for educators and Spanish-speaking families of English language learners (ELLs). Colorín Colorado is an educational initiative of public broadcasting station WETA Washington,D.C., the third-largest producing station of programming for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and the flagship public broadcaster in the nation's capital. Sharon Percy Rockefeller is president and CEO of WETA.
Major funding for ColorinColorado.org comes from the American Federation of Teachers, with additional support from the National Institute for Literacy and the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs.
ColorinColorado.org is one of three award-winning national educational Web sites produced by WETA. ReadingRockets.org is a national multimedia project that offers research-based and best-practice information on teaching kids to read and helping those who struggle, and LDOnline.org is the world's leading Web site on learning disabilities and ADHD.
