鈥嬧赌婼AN JOSE, CA 鈥� It鈥檚 National Teacher Appreciation Day 2016, and the 含羞草社区 Office of Education (SCCOE) recognizes the thousands of teachers across the county who serve more than 276,000 students at 413 school sites on a daily basis. National Teacher Appreciation Day has been officially celebrated during the first week of May since 1985.
To coincide with today鈥檚 observance 鈥� which is part of Teacher Appreciation Week from May 2-6 鈥� the SCCOE is launching the first in a series of Teacher PSAs in which the 2015-16 district teachers of the year from around the county share just a few of their thoughts about why they find teaching so rewarding.
All the teachers who will be featured in the series of videos were honored during the SCCOE鈥檚 2015-16 Teacher Recognition Celebration last fall in Campbell.
The inaugural video highlights the work of Jelani Canser from Burnett Middle School in the San Jose Unified School District, Samantha Nguyen from Almond School in the Los Altos School District, and Jeannie Krepelka from Oster Elementary School in the Union School District.
鈥淚 teach because I love to see the kids get excited about what they鈥檙e learning,鈥� Krepelka says in the video. 鈥淚 love to see something that was a struggle suddenly become something that they can do, and how happy they feel about that. It鈥檚 a job where you still really do make a difference.鈥�
The PSAs, which will be rolled out every week until the end of June, are also part of a wider countywide initiative to address the teacher shortage. A few months into last school year, there were still almost 4,000 teaching positions open in the state of California.
The SCCOE is working on recruiting and developing the next generation of excellent teachers through many means, including its upcoming 鈥�Step into Teaching: Opportunities in Silicon Valley Public Schools Event鈥� on June 18. This inaugural event will help candidates who may have never considered teaching see themselves in the position by helping them learn and prepare for the joys of a teaching career.
