Teacher Will Take Curtain Call for Skill as Educator

Herb Holland followed a family tradition when he decided to become a teacher more than 30 years ago.

Holland, a theater arts teacher at the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Audubon Junior High in the Crenshaw district, was one of 12 recipients of this year’s California Educator Awards announced by Bill Honig, the state superintendent of public instruction.

He was selected for his exemplary leadership abilities, professional growth and achievements, and commitment to excellence in education. Holland will be honored in March and will receive a $25,000 award. The Milken Family Foundation, which initiated the program in 1987, provides the funding for the awards.

“My mother was a teacher and so were most of my relatives, and I was inspired to do the same,” Holland said. While attending Grambling State University in his native Louisiana, he discovered he had a flair for drama and acting.

After training at the Pasadena Playhouse and Cal State L.A., he taught theater arts at several high schools in the Los Angeles area before moving to Audubon Junior High School six years ago. He is an active member of the California Arts Program, an educational program to promote awareness of the arts.

This past summer, he was selected to be a teacher and researcher for the National Arts Education Research Center at New York University.

Andrew K. Benton, vice president for university affairs at Pepperdine University, was recently sworn in as a director of the new Malibu branch of the American Heart Assn.

Benton is a resident of Malibu.

William S. Mortensen, chairman of the board for the First Federal Bank of California, will become the campaign chairman for the United Way, Western region, which is located in West Los Angeles. He serves as a trustee on the St. John’s Hospital and Health Center Foundation and is a member of the board of councilors of the USC Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center. Mortensen was recently honored by the Santa Monica/Malibu Board of Education for his contributions to public education.

Supervisor Deane Dana has reappointed Santa Monica resident Zee Marzec, president of Bradford & Marzec Inc., to serve on the Los Angeles County Courthouse Corp.

The corporation oversees the sale of bonds for courthouse construction projects.

UCLA Chancellor Charles E. Young has appointed Gilbert Cates, a producer and director, dean of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television.

Cates, who was recently nominated for an Emmy Award for producing the 62nd Annual Academy Awards this year, has worked as a producer and director of motion pictures, television programs and Broadway theater. He will serve as the school’s chief administrator and will work as a professor in the theater, film and television departments.