Jamila Banks
Kindergarten Teacher
Loreto Elementary School
Los Angeles, CA
Biographical Information:
Jamila Banks, bilingual teacher for grades K-2 at Loreto Street
Elementary School in Los Angeles, is a certified instructor and
facilitator in multicultural and diversity training. She has conducted
several workshops for the district in multiculturalism and diversity
in conjunction with the local teacher union and city and county
education agencies. During two exciting months in 1999, Ms. Banks
traveled throughout Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala for the Odyssey
Worldtrek Web site, where she researched the history of the regions'
indigenous cultures and conducted a live Web cast interview with
1992 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rigoberta Menchu. She was recently
part of a group recognized by President Clinton's Initiative on
Race.
Susana N. Baum
Reading Teacher,
Grades K-3
Solana Vista Elementary School
Solana Beach, CA
Biographical Information:
Susana Baum, reading specialist at Solana Vista Elementary School
in Solana Beach, uses a vast array of literacy tools to turn struggling
learners into confident, competent readers. She adapted a secondary-level
reading intervention program to the needs of primary students
and now coordinates its use in five schools in the district. She
makes home visits, hosts parent education nights and enlists local
businesses in support of her parent activities. In addition to
her leadership in professional development and curriculum, Ms.
Baum is collaborating on an effort to measure growth in student
learning over the school year, a first step toward identifying
and emulating the best instructional practices system-wide.
Charles de Seriere
Fifth Grade Teacher
Beulah Payne Elementary School
Inglewood, CA
Biographical Information:
At Beulah Payne Elementary School in Inglewood, teacher Charles
de Seriere involves his fifth-graders in learning experiences
that steer them away from violence and apathy and toward self-esteem
and accomplishment. These experiences have included an anti-drug
rally featuring the Los Angeles Lakers, a district-wide career
day complete with a video greeting from the Washington D.C. editor
of Fortune magazine, and a trip to Sacramento to participate in
California Governor Gray Davis' inauguration. An expert in conflict
resolution, he trains other teachers in developing their students'
mediation skills. He has played a key role in the school's Leadership
Committee and the Principal's Advisory Committee, as well as the
Mayor's Education Advisory Board.
Lauran Cherry
General Elementary Teacher, Grades K-5
Santa Fe Elementary School
Oakland, CA
Biographical Information:
Through a combination of technology-rich integrated curriculum,
individualized instruction, creativity and contagious energy,
teacher Lauran Waters-Cherry fully engages her fourth-graders
in learning at Santa Fe Elementary School in Oakland. As a result,
her students have consistently improved their standardized test
scores. Each year, she coordinates the district's annual science
and math fair, a three-day event that takes place at the Convention
Center and attracts thousands of participants. She also coordinates
Project YES, an after-school recycling program. She has involved
parents in fundraising efforts to support student field trips
and camping expeditions to expand her students' horizons. Mrs.
Waters-Cherry has also secured grants to extend the school's resources.
