Investing in Education : Couple Surprise 5 Finalists for Teacher of the Year With Awards of $15,000

At a breakfast honoring Orange County’s five finalists for California Teacher of the Year, honoree David Houston knew he would be getting some recognition from his peers to accompany his coffee and muffin.

But when local investor William Gross and his wife, Sue, arose from their seats at the Disneyland Hotel and announced they would be giving $15,000 to each of the finalists, Houston’s head dropped back, his face went pale, his mouth dropped open and he slid down in his seat.

“I’m at a loss for words,” said Houston, a science teacher at Mission Viejo’s Fred Newhart Middle School. Houston had become a finalist because of his innovative use of live animals in the classroom as a way of motivating and teaching his seventh-grade students. Ironically, he once taught William Gross’ two oldest children. “I’m stunned.”

William Gross, who owns Pacific Investment Management in Newport Beach and is a frequent panelist on PBS television’s “Wall Street Week in Review,” said he and his wife decided to begin making a $100,000 annual donation to the county’s Teacher of the Year program as they discussed education during their drive back from a Palm Springs visit nine months ago. In addition to the $15,000 being given to each of the five finalists, the 28 semifinalists received $890 each.

The Grosses said they wanted to begin paying back the public school system for their own schooling elsewhere in California and that of their children here in Orange County.

One of William Gross’ two oldest children from a previous marriage is a recent graduate, and the other will soon graduate, from Capistrano Valley High School in Mission Viejo, while a 4-year-old daughter from his current marriage will be attending public school next fall. The Grosses named the award the “James Hines Teachers of the Year Foundation,” after a Saddleback College English professor Sue Gross once had and admires.

“The public school system has been wonderful to us,” William Gross said. “We couldn’t have had a better education.” He said he hopes other business leaders will now step forward to honor local teachers.

All of the finalists said they plan to invest most if not all of the award back into the classroom.

Fine arts and math teacher Manuel Hernandez said he would use the money to buy supplies and hire an instructor for the folklorico dance troupe he sponsors at Santa Ana’s Valley High School, where he is considered a role model for the predominantly Latino student body.

Alrene Kay Allan, a second-grade teacher at Anaheim’s Paul Revere Elementary School, said she wasn’t sure specifically how she would spend the money, except that, “I’m sure I’ll use it in such a way that it will represent all of the other teachers at my school who work so hard.” She was being honored for her ability to use enthusiasm and the cartoon character Snoopy to teach students, including those who do not speak English.

Patricia Carey, a second- and third-grade teacher at Buena Park’s Gordon H. Beatty Elementary School, said she will now be able to get her classroom computer fixed and buy more books and computer programs, neither of which her school could afford.

Community college finalist Bonita Roohk, a biology teacher at Golden West College in Huntington Beach, said someone suggested that she use the money for a vacation, but she was also thinking it would allow her to buy a new computer printer for her office. She was being honored for work in motivating undergraduate biology students.

Houston said he will now be able to buy more computer programs and science equipment for his classroom.

“I don’t think people realize that almost all teachers put their own money into the classroom, whether it is the art teacher who buys art supplies or the science teacher who buys equipment for his class,” Houston said. “But with the budget cuts that have been occurring in education over the last several years, this will allow me to make up for some of that in my class.”

Hines, for whom the awards were named, said he too felt honored by the Grosses’ generosity.

“Most of us teachers are satisfied with all of the wondrous student faces looking up at us in amazement,” he said. “But it’s nice to get wider recognition once in a while.”