Peggy Heller educator named Merced County’s Teacher of the Year

A transitional kindergarten teacher from Atwater and a library clerk from Delhi took top honors at the 12th annual Merced County Excellence in Education Awards at the Merced Theatre this week, the Merced County Office of Education announced.

Carrie O’Bara, who teaches at Peggy Heller Elementary School in Atwater, is Merced County’s Teacher of the Year and Marisela Picazo from Harmony Elementary School in Delhi is the county’s School Employee of the Year.

School districts submit teachers and school employees for the awards program and representative from local government, K-12 and higher education serve as the selection committee.

There were five nominees for school employee of the year and seven nominees for teacher of the year.

Full list of district nominees:

TEACHERS

Carrie O’Bara Atwater Elementary School District

Cara Holland Delhi Unified School District

Mary Henderson Dos Palos-Oro Loma Joint Unified School District

Tuckie Burgess Merced County Office of Education – Special Education

Stephen Eccles Merced Union High School District

Jenny Mendoza Preschool – Merced County Office of Education

Dawna McCreary Weaver Union School District

SCHOOL EMPLOYEES

Mary Monroe Atwater Elementary School District

Marisela Picazo Delhi Unified School District

Fernando Maciel Le Grand Union High School District

Jennifer M. Campos Merced County Office of Education – Human Resources

Donna L. Bandoni Merced Union High School District

This story was originally published October 6, 2017 at 11:24 AM with the headline "Peggy Heller educator named Merced County’s Teacher of the Year."