Teacher Surprised With $25,000 Award
Published: November 25, 2005
One teacher who heads and has championed a dual immersion program for junior high students — where students take some classes in English and some in Spanish — got a huge and surprising reward this week.
James Orihuela of Cecil B. DeMille Middle School was given a $25,000 Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award Tuesday.
The national program is set up to “celebrate and elevate” the top teachers throughout the United States.
Orihuela learned of the award as a surprise assembly in front of about 200 students in the school auditorium.
“I’m lucky to do what I do and have the kids I have to work with,” Orihuela said. “I love what I do.” [Follow Your True Colors To The Work You Love]
It shows, said Principal Tim Spivey.
“He has a love of students learning, not just teaching,” Spivey said. “He doesn’t have behavioral problems in his classes because he’s got (their interest).”
Cecil B. DeMille Middle School is one of a few schools to offer a dual immersion program, where students take some classes in English and others in Spanish in an effort to make the students bilingual as well as teach them the subjects. Half of the students in the program are native English speakers, the other half Spanish.
For example, in sixth grade, math is one of the classes in Spanish, the rest in English. In seventh grade, history is one of the subjects taught in Spanish, in eighth, science is included.
And each year the students have Orihuela, who teaches the Spanish Language Arts classes for all the levels. Orihuela came to the school from Denver, where he was getting his Masters Degree in Education Curriculum and Instruction, specifically because of the dual immersion program.
But what attracted the attention of the Milken Family Foundation was that Orihuela has been head of the dual immersion program, has worked to train teachers in the program and mentors other teachers doing it.
Orihuela also has done research over several years showing that dual immersion students are doing better on tests and with grades than other students. His tests show that the gap between those learning English and those who are proficient in English narrows through the program. [Better English Every Day]
Not that Orihuela thought he deserved any recognition.
He called his wife — who was home with their two sons — to tell them the news and explain what had happened.
“No, I’m not kidding,” he had to repeat several times.
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: