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Teachers, principals and school employees
of the year honored at luncheon
Teachers, principals, and school employees of the year were honored today (May 10, 2010) by the Riverside County Office of Education at the Celebrating Educators Luncheon at the Riverside Convention Center.
Also receiving awards were inductees into the Riverside County Education Hall of Fame for community members and business partners who have shown outstanding support for education.
Honorees included:
 Christine J. Anderson
Administrator of the Year (Certificated)
Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services
Palm Springs USD
Christine J. Anderson has been the Assistant Superintendent for Educational Services in the Palm Springs Unified School District since 2007. She has worked in education for 35 years, 21 of them as a certificated administrator. She was a principal for the Carl Harvey School for the Orthopedically Impaired and Teen Parent Program, a principal in the Santa Ana Unified School District, and Executive Director for Human Resources in the Santa Ana Unified School District. She is a member of the Association of California School Administrators, and board member of the YMCA of the Desert. Nominators said that Anderson led the district’s District Assessment and Intervention Team (DAIT), helping to bring about significant increases in student performance on state tests.
 J.R. Rea
Administrator of the Year (Classified)
Director, Information Technology Services
Lake Elsinore USD
J.R. Rea has been the Director of Information Technology Services for the Lake Elsinore Unified School District since 2002. He has worked in education for 15 years, 13 years as a classified administrator. He was a Systems Administrator for the University of Wyoming and Director of Information Technology for the Alvord Unified School District. He is a member of the California Educational Technology Professionals Association and the California Association of School Business Officials, where he chaired the Research and Development for Technology committee. Nominators praised his work with the technology association and commented, “J.R. is extremely dedicated to bringing 21st Century technology into the classroom to improve the educational process.”
 Joseph Balleweg
Principal of the Year
Principal, Great Oak High School
Temecula Valley USD
Joseph Balleweg has been Principal of Great Oak High School in the Temecula Valley Unified School District since 2007. He has served in education for 18 years. Balleweg became a junior high school reading and language arts teacher in 1993. He taught English at Chaparral High School in Temecula in 1999 and at Great Oak in 2004. He became the Assistant Principal at Great Oak in 2006. He chaired the English Department at both Chaparral and Great Oak. Balleweg is a former Riverside County Teacher of the Year. He has coached high school tennis and soccer and is a volunteer youth baseball coach. Nominators said Balleweg “is a true instructional leader” at the highest performing high school in Riverside County. “He is respected and adored by his students, teachers and fellow administrators.” An example of his commitment is that he teaches an IB Theory of Knowledge class that starts at 6:15 in the morning and another period for students struggling to stay current on their work.
 Cecile M. Johnson
Confidential Employee of the Year
Executive Assistant to the Superintendent
Alvord USD
Cecile M. Johnson has been the Executive Assistant to the Superintendent in the Alvord Unified School District since 1997. She was a school secretary for McAuliffe Elementary School and Assistant to the Director for Special Education before becoming Secretary to the Superintendent. She has been a member of the California School Public Relations Association and the National Notary Association. Nominators said, “Cecile is a role model and mentor to the other confidential and secretarial employees.” She has assisted five superintendents in the Alvord Unified School District.
 Cindy Rungo
Classified Employee of the Year (Nominee to State)
School Library Assistant
Alvord USD
Cindy Rungo has been the School Library Assistant at Myra Linn Elementary School in the Alvord Unified School District since 2003. She was a Playground Supervisor at Hawthorne Elementary School, and a Physical Education Assistant. She is a member of the California School Employees Association, California State PTA, and has served several roles as a PTA officer, including President at Hawthorne Elementary. Nominators said “Cindy donates hours above and beyond her normal hours that result in a quality library program. She creates and encourages a culture of reading and love of books. She has tremendous curiosity and a willingness to take on new challenges with boundless enthusiasm; which makes Myra Linn a better place for students.”
 Nancy Penn
Site Support Employee of the Year
Program Specialist, Special Education
Moreno Valley Unified School District
Nancy Penn has been a Program Specialist in Special Education at the Community Education Center in the Moreno Valley Unified School District since 2005. She has worked in education for 30 years. She was a Special Education teacher in 1980 for the Moreno Valley Unified School District and later for the Riverside County Office of Education. She has been a Beginning Teacher Support Provider and Mentor Teacher for her school district. Nominators said, “Nancy is a person committed to the premise that all children have a right to learn and achieve their greatest potential. Nancy will assist in any way to make that happen. Nancy is amazing.”
 Melissa Casady
2011 Teacher of the Year
Great Oak High School, Temecula Valley USD
Melissa Casady is an English teacher at Great Oak High School in Temecula. She has been a teacher for nine years, starting at Chaparral High School, also in the Temecula Valley Unified School District. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Cal State San Marcos. She is a master teacher in English, a Beginning Teacher mentor, yearbook adviser and Co-Department Chair in English. She has been the California Coastal Credit Union Teacher of the Month, a Crystal Apple nominee, and Renaissance Teacher of the Year in 2009. Nominators said Casady “is one of the best. She is an outstanding teacher and leader who has made her mark in the lives of her students and a positive influence on all those that work with her.”
 Ruth Prystash
2011 Teacher of the Year
Special Education, Riverside County Office of Education
Ruth Prystash is a Special Education Teacher for the Riverside County Office of Education at the Rob Reiner Center in Perris. She 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 an instructor at UCR. 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 programs across the county. More than 200 educators have visited her classroom. Nominators said, “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.”
 Kevin Roughton
2011 Teacher of the Year
Jurupa Middle School, Jurupa USD
Kevin Roughton teaches Social Studies and AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination), a program that prepares and encourages students to attend college, in the seventh grade at Jurupa Middle School. He has been a teacher for seven years. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Cal State San Bernardino. He is a member of the National Educators Association, Christian Educators Association International, and was the 2010 Jurupa Middle School Teacher of the Year. Nominators said “no other teacher cares and fights more diligently for the well being of his students…His guidance towards school and college has been a decision maker for my children to strive on attending a four year college.”
2011 Riverside County Education Hall of Fame
 Jay Hoffman
Hall of Fame
Jay Hoffman retired in 2010 as the Superintendent of the Nuview Union School District. He began his teaching career in the 1970s after graduating from Cal State Northridge. He later obtained a credential and master’s degree from Cal State Fullerton, and a doctorate from the University of La Verne. He was hired in 1987 as the Assistant Superintendent for the Temecula Valley Unified School District and became the Superintendent for the Nuview district in 1997. Hoffman was awarded the Marcus Foster Memorial Award from the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) for his contributions to education. He has been involved with the Parent Institute for Quality Education, Healthy Start, Bridge Early College High School Program, Catalina Island Marine Institute, Jay Hoffman Youth Dental Clinic, and many other programs. Nominators wrote that Hoffman “has contributed to the creation of an environment where individuals, both children and adults, are listened to and regarded.” He and his wife Jennifer have a son, Benjamin, a daughter, Rebekah, and four grandchildren.
 Mimi Badura
Hall of Fame
Mimi Badura
is the immediate past president of the 23rd District PTA, serving as president of the organization representing more than 250 PTA groups in Riverside County from 2007-2009. She has served the PTA for the past 14 years, and received her certificate as a Certified Parent Involvement Liaison through the California Parent Center and San Diego University State University. She is the co-founder of the Riverside County Parent and Family Involvement Action Team (PFIAT), and was instrumental in organizing the First Annual Parent Involvement Summit in 2010. She has been honored with the Recognition of Excellence Award from the Hemet Unified School District in 2005, and the Hemet Unified School District Hall of Fame Award in 2007. Nominators said “the impact of her efforts on the educational community has been her work in collaboration with parents and administrators to strengthen every school in our district. By training parent leaders and administrators she is now able to spread her support to whole communities of people.” She and her husband, Richard, have one daughter, Zoie, and live in Hemet.
The Celebrating Educators Luncheon is sponsored by the Riverside County Office of Education, Altura Credit Union, and Life Touch Prestige Portraits in recognition of the county’s outstanding educators.
For information contact:
Rick Peoples,
Public Information Officer
Telephone: (951) 826-6642
Fax: (951) 826-6199
rpeoples@rcoe.us
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