TUSTIN : Top Teacher Honored for Love of Job

As a teacher, Deedee Carr has done it all.

For the past 27 years, she has taught in all grade levels, in adult classes, reading clinics, writing institutes and summer school. She has been a teacher to teachers too.

And she loved it. “I was happy wherever I was,” said Carr, 55, who teaches fifth grade at Helen Estock Elementary School.

For her commitment and love for teaching, Carr was recently named Teacher of the Year by the Tustin Unified School District. She was also honored for her work as grant writer, mentor for new teachers, and for helping to develop and expand the district’s fifth-grade curriculum.

“I’m honored,” said Carr, who taught kindergarten at Helen Estock for 15 years before switching to fifth grade in 1989. “I’ve been here a long time.”

District Supt. David L. Andrews said the Teacher of the Year award is sponsored by the state Department of Education to honor outstanding teachers. Each school district picks a winner based on the teacher’s educational background and professional and personal skills, such as the ability to communicate ideas clearly.

Andrews said school principals nominate a candidate from among their teachers. A panel of administrators and a teacher representative then interview the principals and nominees. Based on the interviews, the winner is selected.

The district winners move on to the county competition. The county winner then participates in the state selection, Andrews said.

“It’s important for school districts to recognize their teachers,” Andrews said. “We have many fine teachers. This is one way of recognizing them.”

Helen Estock School Principal Pete Schaefer said that among his 23 teachers, Carr is one of the most knowledgeable in curriculum development.

“She’s in the leading edge of curriculum development and what works with the kids,” Schaefer said. “When she says something, people pay attention.”

Carr holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from UC Berkeley and a master’s degree in developmental psychology from Chapman College. She has served as a member of and consultant to the UC Irvine Writing Project Fellowship.

This year, she introduced team teaching in partnership with another fifth-grade teacher, Karen Bleiker. They plan their lessons together, focusing on new concepts of integrating subjects such as science, literature, music, art and writing, then teach them as one unit.

For example, in a recent lesson on explorations, students learned about oceans, chemistry and Africa over a span of about four weeks, Carr said.

On their lessons on volcanoes, students created their own islands out of papier-mache, clay and plaster and invented a geological history of their islands.

To encourage pride in their work, Carr has also started personal bulletin boards, where the students put up the work they like best, rather than the old practice of the teacher choosing which work to display.

“They care more about their work that way,” Carr said.

She said teaching is a privilege and a constant challenge.

“We cannot teach all the details anymore--the world has gone too complex,” Carr said. “But we can teach students how to think, how to organize and prepare for tomorrow.”