Teachers surprised as finalists for award

The Costa Mesa Library Foundation and Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce brightened Monday morning for four local teachers.

The four educators in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District were declared finalists in the foundation’s second annual My Favorite Teacher awards. Foundation President Barbara Steck and Chamber President Kyle Woosley arrived at each teacher’s classroom to deliver the news that morning.

Teachers Paul Leedy from College Park Elementary, Rebecca Olsen from Woodland Elementary, Lainie Villa from Killybrooke Elementary and Paige Figueroa from Rea Elementary had no clue what was about to happen.

After Steck and Woosley announced each finalist, the teachers were celebrated with cheers and hugs from their students. Villa and Olsen shed tears as their classes embraced them.

During the classroom visits, Steck and Woosley also gave the teachers invitations to join the chamber’s Les Miller Student Awards breakfast on May 8 at the Hilton Hotel in Costa Mesa. The gathering will acknowledge the four finalists and announce the winner of the teacher awards.

The breakfast will also honor more than a dozen high school and college students in Costa Mesa for their academic accomplishments and extracurricular activities. The event is organized by the foundation and the chamber.

“For 36 years, we’ve held the student awards, but we’ve always wanted to have some kind of teacher recognition worked into it,” Woosley said. “We hope that combining these two will bring more light to the incredible work that’s done in the district.”

Students and parents are invited to nominate teachers from elementary, middle or high schools in Costa Mesa. In comparison to last year’s nominations, Steck said, many of this year’s forms came from parents.