Huntington Beach high school district names 2 Teachers of the Year

The Huntington Beach Union High School District this week announced two Teachers of the Year — Andrea Taylor from the Huntington Beach Academy for the Performing Arts and Christopher Dornbush from Ocean View High School.

“These two exemplify what it means to be a teacher in the Huntington Beach Union High School District through their dedication for education and the love they have for their students and teaching,” the district said in a statement.

Andrea Taylor

Taylor is a native of Huntington Beach and a graduate of Fountain Valley High School. She has been teaching locally for more than 15 years.

She is the visual and performing arts facilitator for the district and recently co-founded the Academy for the Performing Arts’ Dance Company, which helps dance students create resumés, build artistic websites, compile head shots and perform in venues outside traditional school settings, according to the academy, which is based at Huntington Beach High School.

She also is co-chair of the academy’s dance department and teaches dance and jazz tech classes as well as jazz and commercial dance ensembles, the academy said.

Taylor could not immediately be reached for comment.

“Andrea is a teacher who strives to learn more, not just for herself but to, in turn, deliver better education to her students,” Diane Makas, the academy’s artistic director, said in a statement. “Her passion and drive for student improvement is tangible, and she pushes her dancers daily to work their hardest.”

Taylor was honored in 2018 by the Huntington Beach Allied Arts Board as an outstanding educator in dance.

Christopher Dornbush

Dornbush has spent the past 16 years of his 26-year education career in the Huntington Beach Union district — all but six months of that at Ocean View High. Previously he worked at Mission Viejo High School and Natomas High School in Sacramento.

Until this year, Dornbush said, he taught English in various grade levels and also has taught a reading support class and a support class for college-bound students.

“This year I took on a new role where I help a wide variety of students who need academic, attendance, social/emotional help,” he said in an email. “It is a jack-of-all-trades position that lets me get involved with a lot of different students. It’s a little bit like being a triage nurse, where I get students in front of the right kind of care they may need.”

Dornbush said his favorite part of the job is building relationships with people, especially students.

“I love sharing jokes, stories, advice and watching students grow into people that I get to call my friends later in life,” he said.

“As far as the honor goes, it is a surprise for sure. ... The best part has been the kids and former students and colleagues who have told me that this is well-deserved. ... But I can think of so many teachers that I’ve worked with over the years that this could’ve gone to just as easily.”

Lilly Nguyen is a Daily Pilot staff writer. Rob Vardon is city editor of the Daily Pilot.

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