Congratulations to high school teacher Ethelyn Tumalad of Oregon, who has been named her state’s 2022 Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: oregonteacheroftheyear.org

Hearty congratulations to Ethelyn Tumalad, a high school educator who has been named Oregon’s 2022 Teacher of the Year.

Ethelyn teaches Language Arts and AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) at Clackamas High School in Clackamas, Oregon. She also serves as her school’s advisor for the Asian Pacific Islander Student Union, and she participates in her District’s Educator of Color affinity group. She is part of Equity Sparks, a part of the Oregon Education Organization, where she is a champion for equitable causes in Oregon’s education system. Her career as an educator has spanned five years.

Colt Gill, Chief of State Schools, praises the honored teacher. “Ethelyn infuses her classroom with community, belonging and empathy – all critical components for ensuring students feel welcome and safe,” he asserts. Ethelyn’s students agree. In a letter of support, a former student described the exemplary teacher as “hands down one of the best and most thoughtful teachers I have ever had.” The student wrote that Ethelyn sees and treats each student who walks into her classroom like a family member and looks for ways to change their lives for the better. “She is the reason many kids even came to school … and she taught me how to be myself in a world that’s constantly telling me to be something I’m not,” the letter continued.

Perhaps Ethelyn’s emphasis on inclusion stems from the fact that she is a first-generation immigrant from The Philippines. She was only five years old when her family immigrated to the Pacific Northwest. Later, Ethelyn earned her Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Western Washington University. She earned a Master’s degree in English Literature and a second Master’s degree in Secondary Education and Teaching from Portland State University.

Congrats, Ethelyn!

Elementary school teacher Analyn Palugod has Baan named the 2021 Teacher of the Year for the US territory of Guam. Photo credit: The Guam Daily Post.

I enjoy sharing stories about exceptional educators who have been honored for their work. Among them is Analyn Palugod, an elementary school teacher from Mangilao, Guam. She has been named the territory’s 2021 Teacher of the Year.

Analyn teaches English as a Second Language (ESL) to third, fourth, and fifth graders at Adacao Elementary School in Mangilao. She also serves as the school’s ESL Coordinator. She has spent the last four years of the twelve years she has worked for the Guam Department of Education at the school. Prior to teaching ESL, she taught a variety of elementary grade levels as a regular classroom teacher.

Analyn employs a number of strategies to help her students acquire language. “Instead of words, I always try to do it through action,” she says. “So I would incorporate images. Having them summarize the story through drawing pictures, I can still be able to see that they mastered the concept. From there, I always try to incorporate the common core standards and try to make it at their own level,” she continues. In addition, her teaching methods include incorporating current events into the curriculum, which she says helps benefit her students even after they move on from her classroom.

Analyn is known to be an advocate for cultural education. She strives to help students take pride in their cultural diversity, unique backgrounds, and ways of knowing and learning. “By empowering students, I can engage their learning further while showing them that they can make an impact no matter what age they are,” asserts Analyn.

Analyn earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from the University of Guam, where she graduated in 2006 magna cum laude. She earned her Master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from the University of Southern California in 2014.