Merced County Excellence in Education honors Teacher, Employee & Administrator of the year
Pamela Atkinson felt she wasn’t really taught to learn when she was a student growing up. Instead she was taught how to feed back facts.
So when Atkinson became a teacher, her No. 1 goal was to teach students how to teach themselves.
It’s something she’s been doing for more than 40 years.
“It’s my job to teach my students how to teach themselves and to use every avenue that I have available to me to helm them be successful in that,” Atkinson said.
Atkinson’s approach has worked and she’s impacted the lives of many students during her career. The Hoover Middle School language arts and social studies teacher in the Merced City School District was honored as the Teacher of the Year during the annual Merced County Excellence in Education award ceremony, held virtually Thursday.
The Merced County Office of Education and Educational Employees Credit Union hosted the event.
Adan Moreno from the Delhi Unified School District was honored as school Employee of the Year in Merced County and Paoze Lee from Dos Palos-Oro Loma Joint Unified was named Administrator of the Year.
The event was simultaneously broadcast on Merced Educational Television and on MCOE social media.
Pamela Atkinson, Teacher
Hoover Principal Julie Rivard says Atkinson is known to go the extra mile for her students. She’s there to help them anyway she can.
“Pam just really has a love for kids,” Rivard said. “Like, she is just here because she wants to help kids. She’s always there for them, she’s always there to help them. She does after-school tutorials — whatever they need — she will help them with that.”
Atkinson has always been able to connect with her students. Her standards in the classroom are high. She treats her class like a college class because she wants to set up her students for success.
“If somebody knows you care you are way more willing to do something for the teacher,” Atkinson said.
The other teacher nominees were Mike Arnold (Atwater Elementary School District), Tanya Abrams (Delhi Unified School District), Debbie Martin (Dos Palos-Oro Loma Joint Unified School District), Linda Garibay (El Nido Elementary School District), Michaele Burkhart (Gustine Unified School District), Amy Pikas (Los Banos Unified School District), Ericka Bautista (Los Banos Unified School District), Erin Mills (McSwain Union Elementary School District), Elizabeth Aviz-Avilla (Merced County Office of Education/Special Education), Crystal Sousa (Merced Union High School District) and Melissa Sanders (Weaver Union School District).
Adan Moreno, Employee
Adan Moreno says his goal is to keep a clean campus for the students at Harmony Elementary School. The students are always the top priority.
“That way the kids come into a clean environment,” Moreno.
Moreno’s co-workers say he goes above and beyond to make sure he meets that goal. Moreno, who works as the lead maintenance/bus driver at Harmony in the Delhi Unified School District was named the top employee in Merced County.
“I felt I was just doing my job,” Moreno said. “
Moreno has been working in the Delhi Unified School District for 17 years. When he started in 2004, he didn’t speak English. Now he’s known for making students feel at home on campus.
“Some of the qualities he has is he’s a hard worker, very reliable, punctual, he takes initiative on things,” said Harmony Principal Alberto Felix.
“He goes above and beyond to make sure everything is working properly,” Felix added.
Moreno says the best thing about his job is seeing the students, teachers and administrators happy after he finishes a task.
The other employee nominees were Gabriela Bravo (Atwater Elementary School District), Dotty Hernandez (Dos Palos-Oro Loma Joint Unified School District), Mai Yer Vang (El Nido Elementary School District), Adelaide Etheridge (Gustine Unified School District), Marcial Ybarra Jr. (Merced City School District), Gigi Bettis (Merced County Office of Education/Human Resources), Rosemary Cota (Merced Union High School District) and Antonio Vasquez (Weaver Union School District).
Paoze Lee, Administrator
One of the big reasons students in the Dos Palos-Oro Loma Joint Unified School District were able to transition to distance learning last year was because of Paoze Lee.
Lee, who oversees technology in the district, was responsible for making sure every student who needed a Chromebook or hot spot had one so they could learn at home.
District Superintendent Megan Grijalva says Lee was the right person to represent their district.
“He stands out as an administrator, he stands out as a leader because it doesn’t matter what the circumstances are, it doesn’t matter what the situation is — it doesn’t matter what we ask Paoze to do — he does it in a positive manner and with a positive attitude,” Grijalva said.
Lee came to the United States as a refugee 40 years ago. He didn’t speak English when he came to the United States, but that didn’t stop him from getting an education.
Lee then went into education.
“I love teaching but educational technology is truly a passion of mine because as I learned I got bored quickly and I saw my students do the same,” Lee said. “Technology to me is the great engager.”
Lee says one of the biggest obstacles his district faces is erasing the digital divide for students who don’t have the same access to technology as some others.
He says he’ll continue to work to get funding to help close that digital divide in his district.
The other administrator nominees were Cheryl Brown (Atwater Elementary School District), Joseph Tenorio (Delhi Unified School District), Lori Gonzalez (El Nido Elementary School District), Alejandro Franco and Stacey Ortega (Los Banos Unified School District), Steve Whitaker (Merced City School District), Francisco Romo (Merced County Office of Education/Educational Services) and Cristi Johnson (Merced Union High School District).
The winners of the Merced County Teacher of the Year and School Employee of the Year are now eligible to move on to apply for the state awards program.
