Teacher at Manhattan Beach Middle School to Represent State as Teach of the Year

Four Southland teachers were named today as 2015 California Teachers of the Year, and one of them was nominated to be the state’s representative at the National Teacher of the Year competition.

The four local educators were among five chosen as state Teachers of the Year by state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson.

Maggie Mabery, a seventh- and eighth-grade science teacher at Manhattan Beach Middle School, was among the honorees, and Torlakson tabbed her to represent the state at the national competition.

The other state honorees are:

• Amy Laughlin, a kindergarten through eighth-grade intervention teacher at Hansen School in Anaheim
• Lovelyn Marquez-Prueher, an eighth-grade English teacher at Dodson Middle School in Rancho Palos Verdes
• Erin Rosselli, a kindergarten teacher at Panorama Elementary School in Santa Ana
• Christopher O’Connor, a ninth- through 12th-grade science teacher at St. Helena High School in Napa County.

“It is an honor to recognize these five incredibly dedicated teachers who devote their energy, passion and creativity to helping all their students achieve inside and outside the classroom,” Torlakson said.

The teachers will be honored at a celebration on Feb. 16.

Mabery, who will move onto the national competition, has been at Manhattan Beach Middle School for 13 of her 15 years as a teacher. She wrote in her application that she fosters a boisterous atmosphere in her classroom, which she described as “noisy, breaking materials, lighting stuff on fire, out of seats, creating from scratch, active, group work, tech savvy, hands-on, engaging, intriguing.”

--City News Service

PHOTO Courtesy Los Angeles County Office of Education.

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