Fresno County educator of the year winners named

The Fresno County Office of Education announced the winners of the annual Educator of the Year awards ceremony on Friday night at the William Saroyan Theatre, including the 2015 teacher of the year.

Linda Amparano of Clovis Unified School District was named employee of the year, Rodolfo Garcia of Edison Bethune Charter Academy was named administrator of the year, and Renee Gomez of Washington Unified School District was named teacher of the year.

Amparano is a student relations liaison at Pinedale Elementary School and has worked in education for the last 17 years. Amparano said she takes great pride in being a role model for students, and spends long hours helping students get bus passes to be able to get to school on time.

Garcia is the principal of Edison Bethune Charter Academy and has worked in education for the last 30 years. Garcia said he loves to high-five students and tries to acknowledge as many as he can throughout the school day with a simple “good morning” or words of encouragement.

Gomez is a second grade teacher at West Fresno Elementary School and has worked in education for the past 20 years. Gomez said that her challenge is to keep up with her students’ hunger for learning, helping them on their journey toward their goals and fill them with confidence.

Twenty-six nominations were received this year for school employee, 19 for administrator and 27 for teacher of the year.

The other finalists were Guillermo Berumen, Fresno Unified, and Agnes Errotabere Dill, Coalinga Huron Unified (employee of the year); Isabel H. Facio, Clovis Unified, and Marcus Sosa, Firebaugh-Las Deltas Unified (administrator of the year); and Donna Lutjens, Clovis Unified, and Jose Edelmiro Morales, Sanger Unified (teacher of the year).

This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Fresno County educator of the year winners named."