2 Area Teachers Get State Board Honors
Two San Fernando Valley schoolteachers were among 11 instructors honored by the state Board of Education for being finalists in the 1998 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching Program.
Darshana Bharatkumar Shah, a science teacher at Portola Highly Gifted Magnet in Tarzana, and Enid Denise Stagg, a mathematics teacher at Willow Elementary School in Agoura Hills, were among the instructors from throughout the state honored Friday in Sacramento.
The teachers were presented commendations from state Supt. of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin and state Board of Education President Yvonne Larsen.
The teachers were selected in the first phase of the 1998 program, which will eventually honor four California teachers with Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science and Mathematics. The program is funded by the National Science Foundation.
Winners of the award receive a $7,500 grant for improving the mathematics or science program in his or her school, an all-expense-paid trip for two to attend honors ceremonies in Washington, and computers and other gifts from private donors.
Diana Yayoi Takenaga-Taga, a science teacher from the Windsor Hills Math/Science/Aerospace Magnet in Los Angeles, was also selected as a finalist.
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