2 High School Teachers Named District Teachers Of The Year

Press release from Mt. Diablo Unified School District

WALNUT CREEK, CA — The Mt. Diablo Unified School District is pleased to announce that Mt. Diablo High School teachers Katalina Gallo and Natasha Paul have been selected as the two District Teachers of the Year for 2022-23. They will both represent the district as nominees for the Contra Costa County Teacher of the Year competition, which will announce its winners in September.

The pair were selected from five finalists that also included College Park High School teacher Laima Haider, Pine Hollow Middle School teacher Dr. Lizette Ortega Dolan and Bancroft Elementary School teacher Maria Sajjad. The finalists were selected from the more than 100 outstanding educators nominated throughout the district. The MDUSD School Board plans to recognize the District Teachers of the Year, finalists and nominees at its April 13 meeting.

Both Gallo and Paul said they were honored to be chosen to represent the district and their school, which they both graduated from themselves (Gallo in 2007 and Paul in 1991). In fact, Gallo was Paul’s student in the Digital Safari Academy that she now leads teaching multimedia to students in grades 10-12. Paul is now teaching 9th grade English in the school’s Architecture, Construction, Manufacturing and Engineering (ACME) Academy, as well as English Language Development to students not yet fluent in English.

Gallo has taken on leadership roles since she came to MDHS, including leading the WASC accreditation focus group on culture at the school looking at things like equity, community and parent involvement so students feel supported. She also plans “Academy Night,” the school’s open house, which will be held on Thursday, March 24th.

Her approach to teaching is that she treats students as equals. “I’m not the center of the classroom,” she said. “We all are and it’s our interaction, which is what makes the instruction and the learning happen.”

Having discussions with her students about their ideas and issues that are important to them is a key part of her role, she added. “Student voice is really important to me. I want students to feel that I listen to them and that what they say matters.” Building trust with her students is also important, she said. “A lot of times in classrooms it is about the mind, but with this population of kids, it’s important to make them feel safe. If the classroom doesn’t feel safe, learning can’t happen. The foundation is trust. They know they can trust me. They tell me things. I want them to feel that they can talk to me about the things going on outside of the class because it does affect them, so how could I not want to know?”

Gallo said the primary reason she hoped to be selected as Teacher of the Year was for her students. “I wanted them to see that amazing things happen at this school. I wanted to show them I went to the school, look at what I can accomplish and you can do anything you want to do. That’s what drives everything I do here. I really want other people to see the school I do — that it’s a beautiful place full of amazing students who are just as capable and just as smart as any other student.”

Paul started teaching at MDHS 14 years ago. Like Gallo, she views building relationships with students as a key part of her job. Current and former students, as well as students she doesn’t even teach, love to hang out in her classroom before school, at lunch and after school because of the warm and friendly atmosphere and the snacks she provides when they’re hungry.

Student Asael Escalante said he knows Paul is concerned about students’ mental health as well as their academics. “She really does care about her students very deeply, like a second family,” he said. Student Nathaniel Leyva added: “She helps everybody and makes it fun.”

To help build a sense of community in class this year, Paul practices mindfulness with students and invites them to sit in a circle to share games, ideas, and discuss a podcast they are listening to as an alternative to reading a book. “I have really high expectations for myself and for others,” she said, adding that she enforces rules such as no cell phones by explaining the “why” behind the rules. “We have to say ‘no’ and be the bad guy sometimes, but I do it with love.”

Outside of the classroom, Paul stands up for her students, even if it means going outside of her comfort zone by voicing concerns about the school's dress code.

“Teaching isn’t perfect,” she said. “It’s messy sometimes. But what matters is you just keep moving forward and growing and reflecting.”

Gallo and Paul are two of approximately 20 other educators who will be named Teachers of the Year for their school districts. Each of them becomes a nominee for the Contra Costa County Teacher of the Year program, which is coordinated by the Contra Costa County Office of Education. Four finalists will be announced in May.

The winners of the County Teacher of the Year program will be announced Sept. 22 in a ceremony at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, where all District Teachers of the Year will be honored.

2022-23 MDUSD Teacher of the Year finalists:

Katalina Gallo, Mt. Diablo High School

Natasha Paul, Mt. Diablo High School

Laima Haider, College Park High School

Dr. Lizette Ortega Dolan, Pine Hollow Middle School

Maria Sajjad, Bancroft Elementary School

Most Recent Past MDUSD Winners:

2021-22 Elizabeth McDonagh and Chelsea Ridenour

2020-21 Dylan Bland and Beth Miller Bremer

Previous MDUSD Winners also named County Teachers of the Year:

2019-20 Shay Kornfeld

2018-19 Kelly Perkins (State Finalist) and Rosie Reid (State Teacher of the Year and National CA Rep)

2016-17 Shauna Hawes (State Finalist)

2003-04 Liane Cismowski

2001-02 Janet Gower (State Teacher of the Year)

1996-97 Judy Moon

1993-94 Kathy Prasch

1990-91 Janice Bergamini (State Finalist)

1988-89 Shannon Merrill

1987-88 Carol Sparks

1986-87 James Wiese

1985-86 James Sayre

1983-84 Victor Hansen

1981-82 William Thomas (State Finalist)

1979-80 Ann Rowe and Joseph Hipple

1978-79 Nancy Burton

This press release was produced by Mt. Diablo Unified School District. The views expressed here are the author's own.