Teachers

COSTA MESA - Instead of budget cuts and more bad news from Sacramento, the Newport-Mesa Schools Foundation celebrated the community's top teachers Thursday night and awarded $147,000 in grants to support classroom innovation. The Schools Foundation hosted its annual "Grants to Teachers" Awards Dinner in the grand ballroom at Turnip Rose in Costa Mesa. "This was a great opportunity for our teachers to be recognized, not only for in the classroom, but for innovative grants they wrote," said Nicholas Dix, the executive director of the Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers.

It’s not very often that students, teachers and school staff get to see school board members and district officials get funky, but on Wednesday morning that is exactly what they got. Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard did the “Hokey Pokey,” school board member Dana Black did the “Chicken Dance,” and Assistant Supts. Susan Astarita and Elizabeth Novack joined them all in performing the “Cha Cha Slide” with teachers and students at Victoria Elementary School.

Friends and family will gather Thursday to remember a Costa Mesa teacher who was hit while riding her bicycle on a Newport Beach sidewalk Aug. 23. She died of her injuries the next day. Candace Tift's funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at Sts. Simon and Jude Catholic Church, 20444 Magnolia St., Huntington Beach. "We just thought … she began there and we want to say goodbye to her there," Tift's mother Mary Logan said. Tift was born in Huntington Beach and baptized at Sts. Simon and Jude.

STEVE SMITH One of my friends is a pilot who told me many years ago that on the way out of a commercial airplane, it's always nice to stick your head in the cockpit and say "thank you" to the crew on the flight deck. I don't fly much anymore, although during a recent 30-day stretch, I flew back and forth to Orlando to attend a convention and to St. Louis and Phoenix to give speeches. Each time, I said "thank you" to the crew on my way out, and each time, I received a look of surprise and a hearty, "You're welcome!"

Christine Carrillo They've taught students in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District for years. They've shared their lives with their students and have shared in their students' lives, as well. Now, they're being recognized as top educators in the district. They're Newport-Mesa's teachers of the year. In an award banquet held Feb. 13, the Newport-Mesa Unified Federation of Teachers presented Teacher of the Year awards, which included a $2,500 check, to 30 teachers throughout the district for achieving excellence in teaching.

Danette Goulet NEWPORT-MESA -- Some yelled "Yeehaw" and others "Aloha." At Victoria Elementary School teachers donned cowboy hats, while down on the peninsula they were given straw hats to wear. But in both places it was all about offering thanks to teachers Wednesday for Day of the Teacher. "Oh my gosh," exclaimed Heather Manchester, a fourth-grade teacher at Newport Elementary School as she saw what was in store for her and her colleagues.

Danette Goulet COSTA MESA -- The tables were turned Thursday morning when teachers took their seats and students ran the show at the second annual Costa Mesa Teacher Appreciation Breakfast. Teachers from Costa Mesa's two high schools were honored by students, parents, business and religious leaders at a breakfast held in OCC's Captain's Table restaurant. Once seated, teachers were told to stay put while students catered to them -- bringing them coffee, juice and the breakfast plate of their choice.

One week ago today, a voice for Newport-Mesa school teachers fell silent. It was a voice that championed the cause of teachers to receive competitive salaries and benefits for the noble cause of educating this community's youth. Linda Mook won many battles fighting for that cause and for keeping the needs of her fellow educators on the forefront. But, sadly, her most recent battle, an arduous struggle against cancer, is one that could not be won, even by Mook, who died last Thursday in her home at the age of 62. Mook, who worked as a journalist before becoming a teacher, garnered many admirers in her career as she carved out a reputation as a strong advocate for teachers.

CORONA DEL MAR — The Newport-Mesa Unified School District's teachers sounded another charge Thursday in their campaign for higher salaries, picketing outside Corona del Mar High School in their second public protest in two weeks. The teachers, most clad in black, waved signs by the curb as the school held its annual open house inside for parents. The event drew fewer protesters than last week's demonstration at the school board meeting, where hundreds of teachers gathered, but it still kept the teachers' cause public while negotiations dragged on behind closed doors.

Coast Community College District instructors won't have to take furloughs like other district employees, the Board of Trustees said this week. "We were able to commit to no layoffs for any employees next year," said Trustee Jerry Patterson. "That's great, that's good news. " The board asked all employees in April to help combat a $3-million budget shortfall for 2012-13 by taking a 3% cut in compensation or unpaid furloughs to help save an estimated 30 to 40 classified positions.

Victoria Fry is turning her school struggles into inspiration for the next generation of students who feel they are failures too. The 21-year-old Costa Mesa resident's efforts haven't gone unnoticed. Dixie Arnold, chairwoman of Vanguard University's Liberal Studies Department, presented Fry, who recently finished her bachelor's degree there, earlier this month with the school's Heart of the Teacher award. The award was created almost a decade ago and describes the love a future teacher has for people, Arnold said.

A Newport Beach man's female relative accidentally stumbled upon child pornography on disks she thought were blank, court records allege. But instead of Alex Bassinne's disks being usable, she found two videos on them - one depicting a girl believed to be between 10 and 12 who was performing oral sex - according to a search warrant affidavit. Bassinne, 50, faces up to nine years and four months in state prison for the three felonies of which he stands accused, including possession of child pornography and lewd acts with a child, according to the Orange County district attorney's office.

The majority of high school students use at least one social media site. And not just on a computer, but on smartphones that allow them to upload photos or update their statuses all day, every day. Students are spending all this time using social media, but is anyone teaching them how to use it for more than just checking out party pictures? For one class of Corona del Mar High School sophomores, that answer was no — until now. "There is no education on social media in the education system," said teacher Brandon Sowers.

There was no way to keep Jennifer Lambert away from the OC Marathon this weekend. Lambert will work at a water station in Sunday's race, which includes a full and half-marathon, passing out water and no doubt encouraging everyone along the way. On Saturday, she and her fellow coach Julie Siff guided their 300 or so students from Irvine's Woodbury Elementary School in the Kids Run the OC 1-mile race. Lambert loves running, and has run several half-marathons over the years, including the last two at the OC Marathon.

The young artists gathered around the gallery, waiting to talk about their framed artwork hanging on the wall. "Oohs," "ahhs" and "cool" could be heard as students walked in single file through Paularino Elementary School's Room 6, admiring the work of their peers. "I especially like that picture of the iguana," said first-grade student Ethan Elvanter, 6. "It would kind of be cool to have my picture up there. " The Costa Mesa campus was buzzing Wednesday after lunch with the grand opening of 5R6 art gallery, a section of fifth-grade teacher Lisa Roberts' classroom that's dedicated to her students' work, which includes paintings, drawings and photographs on the wall and sculptural pieces on a table.

When Amber Baur taught at Harbor View Elementary School, Rubik's Cubes were a daily part of classroom activities. "Children like their fingers and hands moving," she said. "So I said, 'You are more than welcome to keep your hands moving during lessons, as long as it's with a Rubik's Cube.' My whole class was doing it. " And if you're going to play with the brightly colored cube puzzle, why not solve it — and if you're going to solve it, why not learn math and algebra skills at the same time?

Costa Mesa High School's gym buzzed with all things green Friday. Clean Green Technology Inc., Viridistor LLC, Orange County Coastkeeper, Orange Coast College's Recycling Center and other organizations set up booths around the gym to educate students about careers in environmental sustainability. "The green career job market is becoming more and more important," as the Earth's natural resources are depleted, said teacher Cristen Rasmussen. "It's important for our students to be able to address those issues when they get out in the real world.

The Frog Prince gave up his life for the educational benefit of seventh-grade honor students at Costa Mesa Middle School. Under the direction of science teacher Roy Center, students from three classes studied Mr. Frog's death on Feb. 15 and 16 by examining evidence, including DNA and fingerprints. The investigation was part of an annual a project that Center has been conducting for five years. He arranges witnesses, suspects and the crime scene. He sets up the scene with a chalk outline of the stuffed Frog Prince who's surrounded by blood, fingerprint and shoeprint evidence.

COSTA MESA - Instead of budget cuts and more bad news from Sacramento, the Newport-Mesa Schools Foundation celebrated the community's top teachers Thursday night and awarded $147,000 in grants to support classroom innovation. The Schools Foundation hosted its annual "Grants to Teachers" Awards Dinner in the grand ballroom at Turnip Rose in Costa Mesa. "This was a great opportunity for our teachers to be recognized, not only for in the classroom, but for innovative grants they wrote," said Nicholas Dix, the executive director of the Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers.