The Encino Chamber of Commerce hosted the 17^th annual Teacher of the Year Awards event Thursday night to recognize local excellence in the teaching profession.

Kendra Hall, a strings and percussion teacher at Mulholland Middle School in Lake Balboa, was named the 2010-2011 Outstanding Teacher of the Year. The music teacher and her fellow 12 nominees, which included six from Encino schools, were honored at a special dinner reception at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills. 

“It’s really very rewarding to know that our business partners feel the same way about education that we do,” said Encino Elementary School Principal Marcia Koff. “And I have to say, it’s nice to see that our wonderful teachers are being honored by our community.”

Principals from 13 area schools were invited to nominate a deserving teacher for this prestigious award. Each nominee received a plaque, a goody cart full of teaching supplies donated by local businesses and two minutes of praise from their principals.

Hall received a cash reward, a DVD player, gift certificates to McDonald's, a one-night stay at the Marriott, Dodgers tickets and accolades from the L.A. City Council, Senator Fran Pavely and Congressman Brad Sherman.

She said it was a bittersweet evening, though. Several of the nominees, including Hall, have received layoff warning notices from LAUSD officials, which means they could lose their jobs at the end of the school year. During the reception, Hall scoffed at the irony of receiving a Certificate of Excellence from the district, in addition to the chamber's Teacher of the Year award.

The 13 nominated teachers were:

Kendra Hall, Mulholland Middle School; Lorena Olguin-Salazar, Berkeley Hall School; Sanford Weber, Birmingham Community Charter High School; Alan Swaney, Crespi Carmelite High School; Ingrid Rosales-Mira, Emelita Elementary; Angela Huff, Encino Elementary School; Curtis Wynkoop, Hesby Oaks School; Cynthia Cuprill, Ivy Academia-De Soto Campus; Ian McGuire, Ivy Academia Charter High School; Jessica Mustard, Lanai Road Elementary School; Cassandra Kim, Nestle Elementary School; Karen Roome, Portola Middle School; and Kristine Rogers, Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies. 

State Sen. Fran Pavley made an appearance, former Los Angeles Dodger Wes Parker was the keynote speaker and members of the Encino Chamber of Commerce also said a few words.

Here's a little more on the Teacher of the Year nominees from Encino schools, with words from their principals:

Alan Swaney joined the faculty at Crespi Carmelite High School in 2005. He teaches ninth grade English and coaches the Academic Decathlon team. Check out his rap music video to see how he aims to bring technology into the classroom.

“Every year—for the last 10 years or so—we’ve been honoring a teacher with what we call the ROSE award. The award is an acronym that stands for Respecting the Old School Educators,” said Crespi Vice Principal for Academics Jonathan Schild. “There are 10 characteristics for an 'old school educator' and our faculty votes among ourselves for who that recipient for the ROSE award is going to be. This year that was Alan Swaney.”

Sanford (Sandy) Weber was nominated to be the Teacher of the Year by  Birmingham Community Charter High School. He teaches ninth grade science.

“He’s an excellent teacher, probably the best teacher at Birmingham Community Charter High School. He has an extraordinary rapport with all of the students in his classrooms,” said Birmingham Principal Marsha Coates. “He is the ultimate teacher leader. Sandy has dramatically changed the tenor of the science department through his visionary leadership and collaborative style.”

Ingrid Rosales-Mira has been teaching at Emelita Elementary School for the past six years in first, second and fourth grades. She sits on the school’s special events committee, PTA board and has served as the UTLA Chapter chair for the past two years.  

“She has been an invaluable resource and support system for me as a new principal. She has continually been supportive and collaborative. As such, she has had an important role in communicating policies and concerns between teachers and myself,” said Emelita Principal Betsy Mayorga. “She has done so much in her short six years to improve instruction not only for her students, but for students in other classes as well. Ingrid is a wonderful asset to Emelita. She is a hard-working and dedicated teacher.”

Angela Huff is a second-grade teacher at Encino Elementary School. She has taught there for nearly 10 years.

“I think one of the highest compliments I can pay to any teacher is that this is the teacher that I would want for my child in the classroom. As a principal you think, where would you put your own child if she was still small enough to be in elementary school?” said Encino Principal Marcia Koff. “This would truly be the second-grade classroom where I would say children are challenged and encouraged. Angela has a way of taking a lesson that everyone else is using, but stretching it and making it really something exceptional for the children.”

Jessica Mustard teaches the Transition Kindergarten program at Lanai Road Elementary School. Using California state standards, she created her own curriculum to benefit children who need time to develop socially, emotionally, physically and/or intellectually before entering kindergarten the following year.

“Mrs. Mustard took on that challenge full steam ahead," said Lanai Principal Mary Melvin. "She said, ‘That’s exactly what I’ve always wanted to do. I want to developmentally reach the students that aren’t quite ready, but we know that they can be.’ Our teachers help vote for our Teacher of the Year nominee and Mrs. Mustard was a unanimous choice.”

Curtis Wynkoop was nominated to be the Teacher of the Year by Hesby Oaks School. He teaches fifth grade.

“We’re forced to do scripted programs, we’re forced to get high test scores, we’re asked to do a lot as teachers and principals,” said Hesby Oaks Principal David Hirsch. “What makes him great is when you walk in the room, there’s magic. And magic is never written in the curriculum. And creativity is not always written in the curriculum. It’s what a teacher brings to that curriculum."