Congratulations to the six 2025-26 District Teacher of the Year Finalists

Last week, the Friday Letter highlighted the District's 2025-26 Teachers of the Year: Mt. Diablo HS teacher Dr. David Pintado and Silverwood Elementary teacher Elizabeth Swanson! This week, we are taking a closer look at the six other finalists: Ygnacio Valley HS teacher Tabatha Box, Concord HS teacher Lisa Cattrone, Cambridge Elementary teacher Veronica Leno Garcia, Pleasant Hill Middle School teacher Katherine Gates, Meadow Homes Elementary teacher Theresa Gutierrez, and Sequoia Middle School teacher Ernesto "Ernie" Minglana.

These teachers were selected along with Pintado and Swanson from more than 200 outstanding educators from TK through grade 12 and adult education who were nominated and offered the opportunity to submit a brief questionnaire. The questionnaires were scored by members of the MDUSD Teacher of the Year Selection Committee and the top-scoring individuals were interviewed. 

The MDUSD School Board plans to recognize the District Teachers of the Year, along with finalists and nominees, at its Wednesday, March 12th meeting. Like Pintado and Swanson, all of the finalists place a high priority on building relationships with students, and emphasizing Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) as well as rigorous academics. Below are short bios of each, including words of wisdom regarding the teaching profession, based on their questionnaires.

Tabatha Box
Box teaches Algebra II/Trigonometry and International Baccalaureate (IB) Analysis and Approaches to students in grades 9-12 at Ygnacio Valley HS, and has 18 years of teaching experience, including 15 years in Georgia and three years at YVHS. She started the school's first Math Team last year, which competed at UC Berkeley. She is also a mentor for the school's Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam along with former District and state Teacher of the Year Joseph Alvarico, serves on the District's Leadership Team, is an IB Coordinator, Technology Integration Leader, and the school's Math Department Chair. She also mentors a student teacher from St. Mary's College. 

"What I like best about the teaching profession is the opportunity to make a lasting, positive impact on students' lives and colleagues lives through fostering critical thinking and academic growth in the classroom and beyond," she said. "This is why I enjoy teaching in various settings at various levels and leading professional development, mentoring student teachers, and collaborating with stakeholders to enhance the educational experience for students."

She uses data to identify students' strengths and areas for growth and creates lessons tailored to their needs and interests. "I take immense pride in helping students develop a strong foundation in mathematics while building their confidence to tackle complex problems," she said. "Also, working with fellow teachers to improve instructional practices and witnessing their growth is deeply fulfilling."

Box is committed to addressing educational equity through both her teaching practices and leadership roles. "At the classroom level, I intentionally create an inclusive learning environment where all students feel valued and supported," she said. "Also, I am also intentional about using culturally relevant pedagogy and fostering a classroom culture that celebrates diversity and encourages students to see their unique perspectives as strengths." 

Her advice to new teachers or those thinking of entering the profession is to focus on building strong relationships with students and colleagues, taking time to get to know them as individuals. She also advises teachers not to be afraid to make mistakes, take risks and to always be open to feedback from students and peers. Additionally, she urges teachers to embrace continuous learning and to be patient with themselves. "Teaching is a challenging but incredibly rewarding profession, and there will be days when things do not go as planned, but that's part of the learning process," she said. "Stay flexible, be reflective, have fun, and remember that your impact extends far beyond the classroom."

Lisa Cattrone
Cattrone teaches English Language Development, Academic Language Development, is the English Language Coordinator at Concord HS, and has 17 years of teaching experience, including two years at St. Mary's College, five years in the Alliance program at Olympic HS, and 10 years at Concord HS, where she has also taught English. "I love all of my students and the classes I teach so much," she said. "I have also helped develop a new push-in model for a period at Concord High where I help other teachers teach language learners in their own classes, help develop curriculum, language support, etc., as well as push-in during my release period to help support my students during class." In addition, she created and leads the school's "Bilingual Ambassadors" program and multilingual GLYPH literary magazine, leads the Tobacco Use Prevention Education (TUPE) and Friday Night Live groups, and serves on the School Site Council.

Cattrone said she feels lucky to teach high school students and language learners and loves teaching because she loves her students, loves to be very busy, believes she is a good teacher, loves learning new things, and loves the community in which she teaches and getting to know the families, as well as making lifelong connections with some students. "It is SO AMAZING when students who have graduated come back to say hello and tell me how they are doing," she said. "It is so rewarding and I never understand when people say teaching is a thankless job. I feel rewarded and thanked every day."

She builds strong relationships with students by understanding what they need to be successful, giving them support, and challenging them. "I make it a point to communicate directly to each student how important I think they are and why they uniquely are amazing to me," she said. "What makes me effective as a teacher is love, mutual respect, differentiation, and being persistent."

Cattrone cares deeply about educational equity and works to celebrate diversity and strengthen student and staff understanding of cultural differences. She organizes food-free, quiet lunchtime spaces during Ramadan and spaces for Muslim students to pray. "I try to educate the staff about what students might need and be experiencing," she said. She has also created "ELD Teams" of students who learn about each other's cultures and write in their home languages together, including some poems that will be published in a multilingual children's book. To make lessons engaging, she incorporates art, digital design, writing, acting, high interest research, multilingual reading and writing, and games. She also creates an MLL Teacher Support Newsletter that highlights teaching strategies, celebrates students, and recognizes teachers doing amazing work with MLL students. 

Her advice to new teachers is to ask themselves if they love their students and if their students love them. If the answer is, "no," then teaching is not for them. If the answer is yes, then she advises them to focus on teaching students, rather than subjects. "Understanding and helping students is the key to good teaching," she said, adding that it is important to be persistent, even if at first they don't want to do the work, because they will eventually start to join in class, when they realize you will never give up on them. "If you decide you don't like kids at any point," she concluded, "please stop teaching."

Veronica Leno Garcia
Leno Garcia teaches Bilingual Kindergarten in English and Spanish at Cambridge Elementary and has taught for 13 years, including two years in Pittsburg Unified and 11 years at Cambridge Elementary, where she has also taught Transitional Kindergarten (TK). "Each day, I am grateful that I am teaching and inspiring the youngest learners," said Leno Garcia, who immigrated to California from Mexico as a child and was herself an English learner. "I love teaching two languages and seeing students believe in their capabilities as bilinguals." In addition, she collaborates with colleagues to better serve students as the Kindergarten grade level representative has served as a mentor to student teachers from Cal State East Bay and St. Mary's College for four years, is an MDUSD Residency Program Mentor to support new District teachers, and serves on the School Site Council.

She believes teaching is one of the most noble and caring professions in the world. "Each day, one has the opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of children, parents, staff, and community," she said, adding that she nourishes, supports and helps students grow academically, emotionally and socially. She also strives to build partnerships with parents and enjoys meeting with other staff members to discuss curriculum and teaching strategies. "I like that teaching offers the opportunity to be creative," she said. "I am constantly thinking, researching, and creating new materials/activities on digital platforms such as Canva to better help students learn and share with colleagues. In all, I believe teachers are an important component of creating a strong community, and I like being part of it."

Leno Garcia focuses on listening, speaking, reading, writing and metalinguistic core standards, and creates a structured classroom where expectations are clearly stated. She arrives early and stays after school to plan her lessons, and reviews data independently and with other teachers to meet students' needs. "Teaching two languages requires double the work, but at the end of each day it is double rewarding," she said. "It makes me very happy and proud to see students become bilingual and biliterate."  

As a Latina woman working in a largely Latino community, Leno Garcia feels connected to her students, their families and her colleagues. She remembers the difficulty her parents had communicating with her teachers and the time it took her to develop confidence in her own English speaking, reading and writing. "When I entered high school, I wanted to continue inspiring young learners that they can be bilingual and biliterate," she said, adding that she is happy that she has the opportunity to do that in Kindergarten, which she believes is the most important grade level. "My ultimate desire is for all my students to reach their full potential and help our community be better."

Her advice to new teachers or those seeking to enter the profession is to believe in themselves, treat each day as a new beginning, plan and organize lessons well, be creative, and have fun in the process. "If you do something with passion and love, everything will result positively," she said, adding that it is also important to teach in a variety of ways because all children learn differently. "Be brave; step out of your comfort zone when trying new strategies," she continued. "Collaborate with colleagues, do not isolate yourself, because you are not alone. Lastly, be flexible and patient. The fruits of your labor are always sweet. Teaching is very rewarding!"

Katherine Gates
Gates teaches 6th grade Core (Language Arts and World History/Ancient Civilization) and Mindfulness and Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), and has taught for 23 years, starting as a student teacher in the Orinda district and at Cambridge Elementary, then as a credentialed teacher in Oakland before teaching at Pine Hollow MS in MDUSD, then at Pleasant Hill MS for the past 13 years.

"What I like best about the teaching profession is the opportunities I get to truly connect with the students," she said. "It's an honor to have the chance to be a trustworthy person who allows them to feel seen and heard, and to create an environment where they feel safe and free to be themselves. It is especially rewarding when I can do this for those students who aren't provided with this elsewhere and may be most at-risk."

Gates is proud of the meaningful and lasting connections she makes with her students. "This connection motivates them to want to go to school and learn and to be their best selves," she said. "I also strive to teach the students non-academic life skills, such as mindfulness and SEL, that have the potential to benefit them for the rest of their lives. Countless times, I have had students and parents report to me how grateful they are for having learned these skills, how useful they have proven to be."

She also involves and engages families through regular communication including inviting them to speak at the school's annual career day. "I routinely send home positive emails to inform families of students' successes, making sure to include all students/families by the end of the year," she said. "Any questions or concerns parents/students have for me via email are responded to promptly."

Her advice to new teachers or those seeking to enter the profession is to gain as much in-person experience in the classroom as possible before officially beginning their career, and to think about how they will best balance their teaching life with their family and/or personal life. In addition, she advises them to be mindful about regularly remembering why they chose to pursue a career in education. "Finally, I would encourage them to be patient with themselves and to remain open-minded and open-hearted," she said.

Theresa Gutierrez
Gutierrez is a 2nd grade Dual Language Spanish teacher at Meadow Homes Elementary and has taught for 19 years, starting as a student teacher at Cambridge and Meadow Homes elementary schools, before she was hired as a 3rd grade bilingual teacher at Meadow Homes, where she has taught 3rd grade for 15 years and 2nd grade for four years. "I have taught in all models of bilingual education in the district: 90/10 bilingual, dual immersion, primary language literacy, and 50/50 dual language," she said. "I have been in self-contained classrooms (teaching in English and Spanish), been the English partner, and been the Spanish partner." She has been a National Board Certified Teacher in English as a New Language since 2013, an adjunct assistant professor at St. Mary's College of California's School of Education teaching about English Language Learners and Bilingual Education since 2023, and has served on several committees throughout her career including School Site Council, Instructional Leadership Team, Professional Learning Communities, PTA, optional committees on-campus, Sunshine Committee, program development committees, National Board Certification support groups, and the Kalmanovitz Alumni Board at Saint Mary's College. She also mentors student teachers from St. Mary's College. "Two of my former student teachers are current teachers at Meadow Homes," she said. "I love that I can continue to mentor them as we go through our professional careers and grow as educators together."

She enjoys both the consistency and the changes involved in education, including consistent standards and projects, as well as changing teaching strategies. "I am always learning new ways to help my students access the content," she said. "I enjoy creating lessons and finding creative ways to present the information to my students."

Gutierrez creates and teaches small reading groups as often as she can, and also brings joy and laughter to her class. "I love to smile and laugh," she said. "While I hold command of my students in serious learning moments, we have a lot of fun in my classroom as well. My students have gained so many life skills by singing, acting, doing STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) projects, and taking turns. Oftentimes, students don't even realize they're learning or practicing a skill!" She fondly recalls a former newcomer student from a Spanish-speaking country who did not know English when he arrived, singing in English. "We sing a new song every week so students can practice their reading, fluency, tune, pitch, body movements, etc.," she said. "This student would belt his heart out and get better at the song every day." She and many students cheered his efforts, impressed by his improvement and his willingness to try. "This is the reward I love seeing in my students," she said. "Not afraid to try, willing to have fun, but learning every moment."

She is proud to be multiethnic, multicultural and bilingual. "Identifying with all of my cultures, languages, and traditions is something | teach my students from day one of every school year," she said. "I want them to know that their cultures and countries are just as important as being here in the United States - and that's coming from someone who was born and raised in Sacramento, California, whose parents are both from the United States (California and Guam), but whose grandparents are from other countries. By being open about my family traditions, food, and language from around the world, students learn to accept the differences in people around them." 

Her advice to new teachers or those seeking to enter the profession is to find a cohort of supportive teachers they can relate to and get together to chat or offer each other advice, see the humans inside your students and adjust your teaching if necessary to meet their needs, and work on making yourself a better teacher through "personal professional development," which may be unrelated to school or district training. "It's something you find useful, you WILL use, and you will carry with you throughout your career," she said.

Ernesto "Ernie" Minglana
Minglana teaches 8th grade English and 6th-8th grade Leadership at Sequoia MS and has 18 years of teaching experience. "My grandmother, Jann Jansen-James, is a Professor Emeritus of Diablo Valley College who taught English for over 30 years, and she inspired me to become an English teacher myself," he said. "I earned my Associate of Arts Degree at DVC, earned my Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies at Cal State East Bay, and I have been teaching English and Leadership for Mt. Diablo Unified School District since 2008."

As a teacher, he knows how important an educator's role is in helping students feel a sense of joy and fulfillment in learning. "I like this feature about the teaching profession best because it warms my heart observing the smiles on students' faces when they realize the progress they've made in reaching their goals and achieving their potential," he said.

He is proud that current and former students and their families have told him that he is a teacher who is genuine and caring. "I take comfort in knowing that I am appreciated by students and families because of my 'firm but fair' approach to teaching with an essential amount of dignity and respect," he said. "What I find rewarding is having the daily opportunity to continue treating my students with care and compassion, being there for them and supporting them whenever they're in need, and bringing joy to learning in the classroom by celebrating their achievements and any progress they make."

As a Leadership teacher, Minglana engages families and the community in his classroom in several ways. "I've had students go out to volunteer in the community," he said. "They've assisted with such things as soup kitchens, food banks, public park clean-ups, and tutoring. We've held Toys for Tots drives with the United States Marine Corps at our school. We've organized Talent Shows, intramural sports tournaments, lunchtime activities, after-school socials, and Red Ribbon Week and other Spirit Weeks. I motivate my students to help make our school an inclusive, positive, and joyful place where all students, their families, and the community at large feel welcomed - where there is a sense of belonging and commonality."

His advice to new teachers is to go into teaching with the mantra of "paying it forward." "For instance, model yourselves after a favorite teacher who had the most positive impact on you, and make a bona fide effort to do for your students what your favorite teacher did for you - motivate, inspire, and educate with great care, joy, and positivity" he said.