SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Teachers of Year to Get Cash Award

When teachers Angela Martin Gorno and Marilyn Montgomery were named the Capistrano Unified School District’s Teachers of the Year in September, they were showered with the usual praise and congratulations.

But because of some budget cutbacks within the district last summer, what the teachers were not showered with for winning the prestigious honor was the usual prize money.

This week, the district’s Board of Trustees, which recently restored about $1 million cut from the budget this summer, unanimously voted to present each teacher with a $5,000 cash award.

The two teachers were nominated for the awards for “their superior accomplishments and exceptional contributions to the efficiency, economy and other improvements in operation of the school district,” Capistrano Unified officials said.

Montgomery, a second-grade teacher at Crown Valley Elementary School in Laguna Niguel, is the district’s Elementary School Teacher of the Year.

She has taught for more than 20 years and helped create the district’s “Parents Are Teachers Too” program, which actively involves parents in the educational process.

Gorno, the district’s Secondary School Teacher of the Year, teaches Spanish at Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo.

She was born in Cuba and was initially educated at home by her parents. She has taught for 14 years and recently received a Certificate of Recognition from State Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig for excellence in the teaching profession.