More congratulations are in order...

This time for 19 educators who were recently recognized for their contributions to the Monterey Bay area educational community.

Each year, the Community Foundation of Monterey County picks educators to honor according to funders’ requests. This year, the recipients of the Allen S. Griffin Awards for excellence in teaching at the high school through post-secondary school levels are:
Peter DeBono, Monterey Peninsula College
Charles Harvey Mills, Defense Language Institute
Timour Radko, Naval Postgraduate School
Moyara de Moraes Ruehsen, Monterey Institute of International Studies
Scott B. Waltz, California State University Monterey Bay
Alfred Avila, Seaside High School
Shannon Giovannoli, Marina High School
Lawrence L. Haggquist, Pacific Grove High School
David Hoey, Monterey High School
Aubrey Powers, Carmel High School

The Mildred Willemsen Awards for excellence in middle school and elementary school teaching were given to:

David “Jake” Glazier, Carmel Middle School
Victoria Lucido, Walter Colton K-8 School
William Lueken, Los Arboles Middle School
Richard A. Mayhew, Seaside Middle School
Ana Silva, Pacific Grove Middle School
Aina Gessaman, Forest Grove Elementary School
Erin O’Bryan, Captain Cooper Elementary School
Wendy Williamson, Olson Elementary School
James “Rick” Ziel, Foothill Elementary School

The Allen S. Griffin Award, established in 1982, was created by a bequest from the late Col. Allen Griffin, founder and former publisher of The Herald, soldier and civic leader, and one of the founders and former board president of the Community Foundation for Monterey County. The Griffin awards honor teachers with a record of sustained excellence in the classroom and significant impact in the community.

The Mildred Willemsen awards were established by name in 2006 when the family chose to honor their late mother and grandmother. They are designed to stimulate and reward excellence in classroom teaching at the elementary and middle school levels in public schools on the Monterey Peninsula.