Blumenfeld chosen to receive Golden Apple Award
Andrew Blumenfeld, former member and past president of the La Cañada Unified School District Governing Board, has been selected to receive the district’s 2016 Golden Apple Award.
Sponsored by the Assn. of California School Administrators, the award recognizes community leaders throughout the state. Blumenfeld, a graduate in La Cañada High School’s Class of 2009, has been named by Supt. Wendy Sinnette as one of 10 recipients in ACSA’s Region XV selected to receive the honor.
“For the past four years, Andrew has been a leader within the district, and without his commitment to LCUSD, our progress on a multitude of initiatives and our efforts to create a learning community which serves the needs of all students would not have been realized with as much success,” Sinnette stated in a release issued Tuesday night.
Blumenfeld currently teaches fifth-grade math and science to low-income students at Crown Preparatory Academy in Los Angeles. He is also co-founder of the nonprofit organization Students for Education Reform and serves on the advisory board of Educators for Excellence Los Angeles and the steering committee for Angelenos Organizing for Education.
Last year, the educator announced plans to run for California’s 43rd Assembly District, to fill the seat occupied by Mike Gatto (D-Glendale) since 2010, and has been campaigning leading up to a November election.
In an email interview Tuesday, Blumenfeld said he was honored to be among the ranks for former LCUSD Golden Apple recipients, including fellow former board member Susan Boyd and Fernando and Valerie Aenlle-Rocha, two longtime volunteers and members of the La Cañada Flintridge Educational Foundation.
“I so respect the tireless and heroic work of our administrators, so this is especially meaningful to me,” he said. “The need for excellent leaders in our schools has never been greater, and ours in La Cañada are setting the standard — I am grateful for their service and this recognition.”
Sinnette said at Tuesday night’s school board meeting representatives from the 10 school districts that make up the Assn. of California School Administrators’ Region XV will convene is a Feb. 24 ceremony for the presentation of the Golden Apple awards.
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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
