LA HABRA : Teacher of the Year Gets $25,000 Award

La Habra kindergarten teacher Maria Azucena Vigil, who was named California Teacher of the Year by the state for 1992, was honored Tuesday by a philanthropic organization that gave her a $25,000 award for her outstanding contribution to education.

Accepting the check from the Milken Family Foundation, Vigil noted the large numbers of children who must overcome language barriers, the stress of troubled homes and other obstacles in order to learn in the classroom.

“I know that they can rise above it, if we adults make it our responsibility to help them rise above it,” she told a luncheon crowd of about 200 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles.

Vigil, who teaches a bilingual kindergarten class at Las Lomas Elementary, is one of six California teachers to receive this year’s National Educator Award from the Milken Family Foundation. In addition to her classroom teaching, Vigil is active in community outreach efforts.

The five other recipients were Gary Bacon, who teaches high school in Santa Clara County; Joyce Jennings, who teaches homeless children in San Diego County; Gary Soto, a middle-school principal in Fontana; Kent Sakatani, who teaches technology and visual arts in San Mateo, and Shereene Wilkerson, principal of a middle school in Vacaville.

The Los Angeles-based Milken Family Foundation, established a decade ago by fallen junk bond king Michael Milken and his brother, Lowell, gives cash awards to teachers and principals each year, letting them spend the money as they wish. This year, 120 awards of $25,000 each are being given in 20 states.

California Schools Supt. Bill Honig helped present the awards to California’s winners. Honig urged a dedication to more generous education funding, noting that 40 of the nation’s states spend more annually per pupil than does California.