Teacher of Year From San Diego Lauded by Bush

President Bush on Wednesday presented a crystal apple and a note of thanks to Janis T. Gabay of San Diego’s Junipero Serra High School, the 1990 National Teacher of the Year.

“Over the past 17 years, she has developed her power to motivate minds, to give kids a sense of wonder and bless them with a life of possibilities unimagined in ordinary moments,” Bush said of Gabay.

The 39-year-old Gabay, an English teacher, also was praised by Bill Honig, the California superintendent of public instruction, and Tom Payzant, superintendent of San Diego city schools.

Gabay, standing on a box to see over Bush’s lectern, fought back tears as she accepted the award, along with a handshake from the President and a kiss from Barbara Bush. She thanked officials for providing “a credible and assertive voice to this nation’s concerns about education.”

The Administration originally had planned a Rose Garden ceremony for Gabay until bad weather forced the festivities to an auditorium in the Old Executive Office Building, next to the White House. Gabay and Secretary of Education Lauro Cavazos sat on stage, in front of an audience of members of the local congressional delegation, education officials and 10 of Gabay’s relatives, as they waited for the President and Mrs. Bush to arrive.

During the ceremony, Bush also introduced and praised a 100-year-old retired teacher, John Morton-Finney of Indianapolis, as “America’s most seasoned scholar.” Finney, Bush said, “taught school until he was 81” and now continues to practice law and attend law school seminars. “If he’s still ready and willing to learn,” the President said, “so can we all be.”

Similarly, he said, Gabay “understands that a real education goes far beyond acquiring skills. It instills a lifelong love of learning.”

Gabay, a 17-year veteran of the San Diego Unified School District, first came to the city from her native Hawaii as a child. She attended San Diego city schools, receiving her high school diploma from Madison High, then earned a bachelor’s degree, a secondary teaching credential, a specialist teaching credential in gifted education and a community college instructor credential at San Diego State University.