SANTA ANA : Golden Bell Awards Go to School District

During a brief ceremony, three teachers for the Santa Ana Unified School District last week accepted prestigious Golden Bell Awards recognizing exemplary educational programs.

On behalf of the innovative programs they helped create and implement, Rageana Davey, Shirley Lee and Lorna Rocha received the awards, which are bestowed each year by the California School Board Assn.

This year, the association awarded eight Golden Bells to school districts countywide. Including the three presented on Tuesday, Santa Ana Unified has won 26 Golden Bells since 1986, more than any other district in the state, said spokeswoman Diane Thomas.

Praising teachers and school officials for their support of the programs, Board President Sal Mendoza said: “It’s individuals like you who make a difference and inspire kids to do over and beyond what is expected.”

Rocha accepted a first-place award on behalf of the Technology Learning Center program at Willard Intermediate. The program is designed to accelerate learning for students with limited English skills, as well as nurture computer literacy.

Hoover Elementary School’s “Reaching to the Stars” program won a second-place accolade. Taught by Davey, the program teams high school science students with children in elementary school during hands-on experiments. The younger children also visit high school science labs each quarter as part of the program.

An innovative biology program taught at Lathrop Intermediate School by Lee also received a second-place award. That program has students conduct scientific research during field trips and use the data collected to design research projects in the classroom.