Kindergarten teacher  Brenda Barreras from Perris, California, has just been named the 2020 CA State Teacher of the Year.

On Oct. 4, 2019, California State Superintendent Tony Thurmond announced the names of the five educators to be recognized as 2020 California State Teachers of the Year. One of the five Thurmond honored is Brenda Barreras, a kindergarten teacher from Good Hope Elementary School in Perris, Riverside County, California.

Brenda has overcome many obstacles on her way to the classroom. She was only 16 years old when she immigrated to the United States, and when she arrived, she could not speak English. In spite of this, she became an honor roll student by the time she graduated high school.

Brenda has been teaching for 22 years. During those years, she has targeted the needs of English-language learners. She led the California Association for Bilingual Educators program at her previous school, Palms Elementary. She also founded an English-language tutoring program to provide assistance to students before and after school. “Ms. Barreras has used her own personal experience to inspire students to succeed,” declared Dr. Judy D. White, Riverside County Superintendent of Schools.  “As she has demonstrated, public education is the cornerstone of our democracy and changes the lives of our students for the better,” Dr. White continued.

Brenda will be joining the other four California State Teachers of the Year in Sacramento in January to meet with Superintendent Thurmond when the group will be formally recognized at a gala. The other educators who have been selected are Sean Bui from Cupertino High School in Cupertino; Mandy Kelly from Trabuco Mesa Elementary School in Rancho Santa Margarita; Guy Meyers from John Burroughs High School in Burbank; and Katya Robinson from West Sonoma County Consortium School in Sebastopol.

To read more about Brenda, click on this link from the Press Enterprise.