Classroom ‘Never Feels Like a Job,’ State’s Teacher of the Year Says

At Las Lomas Elementary School, kindergarten children call Maria Azucena Vigil mi maestra , or “my teacher.” Their parents respectfully call her Mrs. Vigil. Now, the state has a new title for her--1992 California Teacher of the Year--a rare honor for a kindergarten teacher.

In a moving ceremony Wednesday at the Orange County Department of Education headquarters, which was packed with Vigil’s colleagues and friends, state Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig praised the 56-year-old grandmother of 15 for her dedication and described her as being on the front line of bilingual education.

“When she teaches, she’s understanding and kind at the same time,” Honig said.

Like more than a quarter of the state’s student population, most of the 5-year-olds in Vigil’s class speak little or no English. School officials said Vigil stands out among instructors who give the extra effort needed to strengthen young students’ language skills while teaching them their ABCs and 1-2-3s.

“I am so honored to have this award and I share it with all the teachers,” Vigil said in her classroom before the ceremony as a student tugged at her seeking a hug. “Every time I walk into my classroom, it never feels like a job. It feels like children are learning.”

Vigil’s award, school officials said, is even more special because it is not often that the state Department of Education chooses a kindergarten instructor as teacher of the year. Because the award committee routinely interviews students to get their opinions, kindergarten teachers are often omitted because their students cannot express themselves as well as older children, said Las Lomas Principal Mary Jo Anderson.

The awards committee, appointed by Honig, started with a pool of more than 50 nominees submitted by county education departments.

The list was pared to four finalists--Gary T. Bacon of Los Altos High School in Santa Clara County, Dori M. Viel of Hayfork High School in Trinity County; Linda L. Wiezorek of Los Berros Elementary School in Santa Barbara County, and Vigil, who was named Orange County Teacher of the Year earlier this year.

“The kids love her,” Anderson said. “She makes the classroom a nurturing place for everybody. She wants her programs to be meaningful and valuable, but at the same time she wants everyone to look good and feel good.”

Take Vigil’s lessons on apples. Not only do her students learn how to make juice and sauce, they learn how to count with apple slices, distinguish colors and plant seeds.

“Maria can take an everyday thing like an apple and turn it into an educational tool,” Anderson said. “You can look at all her students and tell that she is really reaching them. Their eyes are all wide and happy.”

Vigil is in her second year of teaching kindergarten, after years of teaching first-graders. A mother of seven, she decided to become a teacher when she was 30. She earned her teaching certificate and became a bilingual teacher in 1971 in the Santa Ana Unified School District.

Vigil teaches mostly in Spanish and slowly integrates English into the children’s daily instruction. The children feel more at home when they hear their own language in the classroom, Vigil said. Even the artwork tells youngsters they are welcome--a poster with a poem entitled “Yo Soy Yo”--or “I am Me”--is posted on the classroom piano.