County Literary Council Honored
The Central Orange County Literacy Council won three awards at the recent Literacy Conference in Concord, Calif.
Alicia Machado of Fountain Valley, who learned English through a literacy program and then worked as an interpreter in a Santa Ana frozen food plant, was presented the Outstanding Service by an Adult Learner award.
Gladys Carson of Garden Grove, who organized English classes under the sponsorship of the United Methodist Church of Garden Grove, won the Center Director award.
Yvonne Leong of Fountain Valley, who heads the Fountain Valley Library English classes, received the Center Leader award.
Estancia High School economics teacher David Brees, who pioneered an applied economics class in 1985, has been named California’s Applied Economics Teacher of the Year by Junior Achievement.
Brees’ students at the Costa Mesa school have produced onyx clocks, Swahili T-shirts and two editions of Coastopoly, a game patterned after Monopoly with local landmarks.
He was one of 24 economics teachers nationwide to win the award.
Carolyn Knutsinger, a teacher at Dr. C.C. Violette Elementary School in Garden Grove and a volunteer at AMI Medical Center of Garden Grove, won the “I Make a Difference Award” from the Garden Grove Education Assn. for her community service.
David Saltzer, a senior at Villa Park High School, received a commendation from the Orange Unified School District for his appointment to the Orange County Juvenile Justice Commission, which reviews activities in county juvenile detention centers.
For the second consecutive year, Lariat, Saddleback College’s weekly student newspaper, was awarded a Western Region Pacemaker Award from the Associated Collegiate Press.
A team from Huntington Beach High School--including Drake Levasheff, Chris Gross, Greg Breen, Mark La Scola, Monique LeFors, Laura Cluff, Mark Wilson, Jack Friend, Mary Breen, Grace Kao, Tammy Herstoff, Laura Davis and Cindy Wang--was named Best Delegation at the recent United Nations Conference at Edison High School.
Jesse A. Cota, former director of the Internal Revenue Service in Las Vegas, has been named district director of the IRS in Southern California and will work from the Laguna Niguel office.
He will be responsible for tax matters in Orange, Riverside, Imperial, San Bernardino and San Diego counties, which, combined, filed 6.5 million tax returns and paid more than $23 billion in taxes in 1988.
Cota, who lives in Laguna Niguel, began his IRS career in El Centro and has held posts in Albuquerque, Fresno and Los Angeles.
Fullerton resident James H. Blake, a former Marine captain and FBI agent and now owner of a Fullerton investment company, has been elected to the board of trustees of the Southern California College of Optometry in Fullerton.
Elizabeth Gecsey, art teacher at Foothill High School in Tustin who is described by her principal as a “one-person art department,” won the Outstanding Contribution to Education Award from the Orange County Department of Education. The 11-year teaching veteran was nominated for the award by her principal, Jim Ryan.
Submit items to Three Cheers, The Times, c/o Herbert J. Vida, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626. Phone (714) 966-5989 .