RIVERSIDE – Riverside County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Edwin Gomez, named an innovative school counselor and an experienced certificated administrator as 2021 Riverside County Educators of the Year in the second set of surprise visits on Wednesday, March 3.
Attended by colleagues, family members, board members, school and district employees, the surprise visits highlighted Esther Martinez as the School Counselor of the Year and Timothy Walker as the Certificated Administrator of the Year. Three additional surprise visits are planned over the next week.
School Counselor of the Year
Esther Martinez puts students first as a school counselor at Monte Vista Middle School, San Jacinto Unified School District. Esther’s goal is to expand opportunities within her school and prepare students to be advocates for change and positivity. She feels collaboration is necessary to expand student opportunities and recently worked with the school’s art teacher to give students hope and unity through their artwork. She also advocates for those students who rarely receive an opportunity to experience academic privileges, such as field trips or visiting campuses because of their current academic position.
“I was not expecting this at all. I still have to wrap my head around receiving this amazing honor. I thought we had a crisis meeting this morning,” Ms. Martinez said. “I’m honored to work with an incredible team that allows me to take risks and continue to learn and grow. I feel very blessed to support and advocate for our students and I feel like this is truly a celebration for our entire team and family.”
Certificated Administrator of the Year
Timothy Walker serves as the Assistant Superintendent, Pupil Services/SELPA and Special Education for the Riverside Unified School District (RUSD). He has 23 years as a Certificated Administrator and 39 years in education. In addition to leading Pupil Services, he also is the crisis commander for RUSD, serving as liaison to Riverside Police Department, Fire Department, and Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. Timothy’s educational vision is that all students must be treated with dignity and equity. He hopes to leave a legacy that ensures the provision of inclusive classrooms for all, and upholding the belief that inclusion is a right, not a privilege.
“I appreciate the opportunity to represent Riverside Unified School District and consider it an honor and privilege to be among such outstanding nominees,” Mr. Walker said. “In this year of uncertainty and unbalance, everyone has been held together by a single vision of bringing our students back to campus. Thank you to the committee members for selecting me and Dr. Hansen, Cabinet, Board members, and my family for the support.”
Riverside County Classified Employee of the Year
Aven Callahan, Library Assistant I
McAuliffe Elementary School
Alvord Unified School District
Riverside County Classified Administrator of the Year
Matt Snellings, Executive Director, Operational Support Services
Riverside County Office of Education
Riverside County School Counselor of the Year
Esther Martinez, School Counselor, Monte Vista Middle School
San Jacinto Unified School District
Riverside County Certificated Administrator of the Year
Timothy Walker, Assistant Superintendent, Pupil Services/SELPA and Special Education
Riverside Unified School District
Riverside County Site Support Employee of the Year – TBD week of March 1
Riverside County Principal of the Year – TBD week of March 1
Riverside County Confidential Employee of the Year – TBD week of March 8
The Riverside County Educators of the Year are selected from the more than 36,000 educational employees in the county. The rigorous application process starts with nominations by teachers, classified employees, and school district administrators throughout the county. Applications are then submitted to the Riverside County Office of Education, where an outside selection committee selects the honorees before the county superintendent announcement.
Clarification: The 2021 Teachers of the Year were named in mid-2020 to align with the 2021 California State Teacher of the Year competition. The 2022 Riverside County Teachers of the Year will be announced in May/June of 2021.
2021 Riverside County Teachers of the Year (named in mid-2020)
Anne-Marie (Annie) Bravo - Grade 3
Railway School of Math, Science, and Technology, Perris Elementary SD
Keisa Brown* - Grades 7 and 8 – Intro to Science and AVID
University Heights Middle School, Riverside USD
Allison Cyr* - Grade 3
Lyndon B. Johnson Elementary School, Desert Sands USD
Krysten Gonda - Grades 9 and 12 – English Language Arts, AVID
Desert Mirage High School, Coachella Valley USD
* Keisa Brown and Allison Cyr were named 2021 California Teachers of the Year in October 2020.