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Riverside County Office of Education teacher semi-finalist for State Teacher of the Year
Ruth Prystash, a Special Education Teacher for the Riverside County Office of Education at the Rob Reiner Center in Perris, was one of 12 semi-finalists for State Teacher of the Year.
Prystash was first selected as a Teacher of the Year for the Riverside County Office of Education, then she was one of three teachers selected as Riverside County Teachers of the Year last June. Teachers from each of California’s 58 counties were then submitted to compete for the five State Teacher of the Year honors. A selection committee narrowed down the pool to semi-finalists and then chose five to be State Teachers of the Year.
Prystash has been a teacher for 30 years, six at Rob Reiner. She was a Special Education teacher in Orient, Ohio, San Diego, Lemon Grove, Grand Terrace and Temecula. She has worked as an autism consultant, lead teacher for the Reach Autism Program, and instructor at UCR before joining the Riverside County Office of Education in their autism program.
She earned her bachelors degree at Stanford, and completed her graduate work at Ohio State University and Point Loma Nazarene College in San Diego. She is a volunteer for the Inland Empire Autism Society Social Group for Teens, the Story Lady at Barnes and Noble, and a performer with the Blues Mothers. Nominators said “Prystash founded Reach, a model autism program that has expanded to 28 sites across the county. Ruth’s talents, abilities, and vision have served as a foundation for the quality autism programs for which Riverside County has become renowned. Her life is a testament to her beliefs in assisting special needs students.” More than 200 educators have visited her highly successful classroom.
Locally, the 2011 Riverside County Teachers of the Year will be honored along with administrators, confidential and classified employees in May 2011 at the Celebrating Educators event to be held in Riverside.
For information contact:
Rick Peoples
Telephone: (951) 826-6642
Fax: (951) 826-6199
rpeoples@rcoe.us
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