County’s Teacher of Year Salute Goes Hollywood

The usually sedate San Diego County Teacher of the Year awards ceremony to be held today will be spruced up this year with the kind of pomp usually reserved for rock stars and actors in the first salute of its kind in the state.

The annual tribute to the county’s teachers, previously limited to a press conference, will be held at Copley Symphony Hall, attended by 1,500 educators and community leaders and televised live by the four largest cable companies in the county.

“The teacher of the year is an opportunity to showcase what we have to offer, and the press conferences just weren’t enough of a showcase,” said Jim Esterbrooks, spokesman for the county Office of Education, which is organizing “A Salute to Teachers.”

Although many feel that teachers deserve the recognition that sports figures and movie stars regularly receive, little is done about it, Esterbrooks said.

“We want to give kids something to aspire to other than becoming Michael Jackson,” he said.

“Everything you read tells you that one of the main reasons people leave the teaching profession is lack of recognition. We just want to recognize all the teachers and let them feel good about what they are doing, and to build respect and recognition for the profession,” Esterbrooks said.

Movie and television stars easily lend themselves to glamour and glitz, and Esterbrooks says it’s the same with teachers.

“It’s not hard to make teachers look glamorous. . . . All we have to do is show them at what they are doing,” he said.

The event, which will feature video profiles of the 10 nominees for the three teacher of the year slots, will be hosted by sportscaster Charlie Jones and cost more than $100,000, with all of the funds coming from cable companies, other sponsors and ticket sales of $10 each.

Other local media also have made recent efforts to highlight education in their programming, including KNSD-TV Channel 39’s yearlong community outreach project entitled “Great Expectations: The Education Project” that began last month, and KFMB Radio’s “Project SOS,” which stands for Support Our Schools, a nine-month project starting this month to get businesses and individuals involved in the local schools.

“Teachers aren’t accustomed to first-class treatment, and we’ve tried to make this a first-class event all the way,” said Sandy Murphy of Cox Cable San Diego.

The winners of each county teacher of the year award goes on to the state competition. But even the state Teacher of the Year awards ceremony will pale in comparison to San Diego’s, said Greg Geetings, who coordinates the awards for the state Department of Education.

“The whole concept of the program is one of bringing recognition to teachers, and things like utilizing cable and other media resources fits in perfectly with the overall program,” Geetings said.

Said Kathy Cates, president of the San Diego County chapter of the Parent Teacher Assn.: “Finally, they are celebrating teachers in a similar manner that we celebrate other professional people: with a little bit of glitz, and that’s OK.”

Admittedly, it’s not the Academy Awards or even the Daytime Emmy Awards, but for teachers it’s a large step in that direction.

“This kind of performance I didn’t think could handle the flash and glitter of an Academy Award show or Emmy show. These are hard working people, though, and they deserve this,” said Tom Meador, associate professor of television and film production at San Diego State University and the designer of the set to be used tonight.

A little flash couldn’t hurt, though. In fact, the lectern to be used at the “Salute to Teachers” is the same one used during this year’s Emmy Awards ceremony, said Meador, who designed the glass lectern.

The set itself, which is 12-feet high and 50-feet across, was constructed by Meador’s undergraduate students, who would otherwise be in a drafting room, he said.

“It’s a terrific part of their education,” said Meador. The school is being paid $3,000 for the set that would cost as much as $12,000 if done by professionals, Meador said.

The winner of the state Teacher of the Year award goes on to compete in the National Teacher of the Year competition.