RIVERSIDE – Riverside County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Edwin Gomez, named a high school principal and a school nurse as the next two recipients of the 2021 Riverside County Educators of the Year awards in virtual surprise visits held on Friday, March 5.
Attended by colleagues, family members, board members, superintendents, and school and district employees, the surprise visits highlighted Esteban Lizarraga as Principal of the Year and Candy Jonasson as Site Support Employee of the Year. One additional surprise visit is planned during the week of March 8.
Principal of the Year
Esteban Lizarraga is the principal at Citrus Hill High School in the Val Verde Unified School District. He has served 16 years in education—including eight years as a principal. During his time at Citrus Hill High School, he has been instrumental in developing and implementing the first International Baccalaureate (IB) Program in the Val Verde Unified School District.
“Esteban’s leadership vision is to build a healthy culture of trust to sustain systematic processes, grow through collaboration, and support student and staff needs,” said Dr. Edwin Gomez, Riverside County Superintendent of Schools. “He ensures that every student is challenged by relevant and rigorous instruction by developing and sustaining teams that are able to build trust, master conflict, make commitments, embrace accountability, and focus on results.”
Site Support Employee of the Year
Candy Jonasson is a credentialed school nurse serving all school sites within the Moreno Valley Unified School District (MVUSD). She has in education for 20 years, and was previously recognized by the Riverside University Health System-Public Health for implementation of a TDaP vaccine program for MVUSD. In her role, she intervenes with student health problems, provides case management services, and stays up-to-date on information and trends to improve health care for students and staff.
“It’s not why we do our jobs, but it’s really great to be recognized,” said a surprised and emotional Candy Jonasson. “It is so great to receive this wonderful honor.”
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
Candy Jonasson, Credentialed School Nurse
Moreno Valley Unified School District
Riverside County Principal of the Year
Esteban Lizarraga, Principal, Citrus Hill High School
Val Verde Unified School District
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.