2 Cupertino Teachers Given County Honors

Two Cupertino teachers were among 31 teachers recognized by the Santa Clara County Office of Education at its 42nd annual Teacher Recognition Celebration, described as the oldest and most prestigious local awards given to teachers.

Anthony Edward Arnold, choir and music appreciation teacher at Miller Middle School and Amanda Day Alonzo, science teacher and STEM coordinator at Lynbrook High School were honored at the Thursday event in the Campbell Heritage Theater.

Each school district selected its honoree based on each teacher’s dedication to students, classroom skill and commitment to life-long learning, according to the district.

The Miller Middle School Jazz Choir, under the direction of Arnold, performed at the celebration. Arnold has been teaching for 16 years, nine with Cupertino Union School District.

“Anthony is able to dig deep into each and every one of his students’ inner ‘American Idol.’ Students who had never even performed in front of an audience are now being showcased in solo performances,” wrote the Cupertino Union School District in the evening’s program.

In his teaching Arnold focuses not only on the subject matter, but character development, too.

“All students were created for a specific purpose. As they go through school, each child’s purpose starts to become more clear, activating their passion. My philosophy of excellence, striving to do the right thing all the time, has taught students to be attentively diligent to obedience so they can develop their character to courageously go after their purpose with a passion to effectively bring change the world,” he is quote in the program as saying.  

Alonzo has been teaching for nine years, all of them with Fremont Union High School District. The district had this to say about her in the program:

“Amanda demonstrates a clarity of vision and deep commitment to creating a scientific research culture and offering opportunities for students to pursue meaningful scientific research. She shares her passion and helps students find theirs.”

Alonzo’s approach to teaching biology and physiology to her students is to look beyond the pages of a textbook.

“For each of the last eight years, Lynbrook has sent at least one student to the International Science and Engineering Fair, and students have earned over $800,000 in cash, prizes and scholarships! I believe that doing science as opposed to learning it from a book is the key to our world’s future success,” she is quoted in the program.

Congratulations to both teachers!

The list of all recognized teachers can be found here.