VENTURA : Ventura County Teacher of the Year Honored

A kindergarten teacher at Ventura’s Montalvo School was named the county’s teacher of the year Thursday for her work with bilingual children and success at bringing parents into the classroom.

Patricia Peinado, 38, was chosen for the award after being nominated by the parents of her students and the Ventura Unified School District. She will now be considered for California Teacher of the Year.

On Thursday, Peinado learned of her award after Montalvo School Principal Marie Atmore asked for her help in another classroom.

When Peinado entered the room, a class of her former students shouted “congratulations,” and an official with the Ventura County superintendent of schools office handed her a dozen roses.

“No. I didn’t win. No way,” Peinado shouted, then reached to hug the children, now in first grade.

“I expected to walk in and find one of my former students on the floor crying,” she said later.

Atmore said Peinado’s biggest accomplishment at Montalvo has been getting Spanish-speaking parents to spend time at home helping with their children’s schoolwork.

In Peinado’s classroom, a sign reading “Parents Make the Difference,” makes that priority clear.

Often, Peinado said, the hardest part is teaching the parents how to teach. If the parents have not finished school themselves, they may be shy about encouraging their children. Or they may think they don’t have the time, she said.

“They say, ‘I can’t read a story at night because I’m busy,’ ” Peinado said. “I don’t buy that. If you have two kids you need to have time for two kids. If you have eight kids, you better have time for eight kids,” she said.

Stella Brown, whose 7-year-old daughter attends Montalvo, said Peinado’s enthusiasm for her job and concern for her students is contagious.

“She not only teaches them academics, but she teaches them to love and care for each other,” Brown said. “I have two jobs and I didn’t want to get involved in the school. Now I’m the first vice president for the PTA in charge of fund raising.”

A teacher for the past 14 years, Peinado said she prefers to work with minority students whose families may be poor.

Peinado did not learn Spanish until she was in high school.

“I seem to always be for the underdog,” she said. “I don’t think everybody wants to teach these kids and they deserve just as much of an education as anyone in this country.”

Peinado said she had planned to be a nurse like her mother and two sisters. But she changed her mind during her senior year in high school when she worked part time as a preschool teacher.

She went on to earn her teaching credential, followed by a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from UC Santa Barbara. Later, she returned to Cal Lutheran to earn a master’s degree in education.