Celebrations for award-winning teacher

A cheer went up from a table filled with Burbank Unified School

District administrators and school board members Friday, as Laura

Vinyard was named a Los Angeles County Teacher of the year.

The sixth- and eighth-grade math and science teacher at Jordan

Middle School, was one of 13 teachers selected from more than 50 Los

Angeles County school districts.

“It feels wonderful to be in a room full of people who appreciate

what we do,” Vinyard said, as she accepted the honor at a luncheon at

the Hilton in Universal City on Friday.

Vinyard expressed her thanks to many people, including her

students.

“They inspire me, they enlighten me and they challenge me,” she

said. “Those are the people who have made me who I am today.”

Fellow teachers nominated Vinyard to be Jordan’s teacher of the

year, and was then selected as Burbank Unified School District’s

Teacher of the Year by a district committee in July.

She was one of 13 selected for the honor of Los Angeles County

Teacher of the year out of 20 finalists after being interviewed by

program administrators and writing a series of essays.

Burbank Unified Supt. Gregory Bowman attended the luncheon along

with several other district administrators who were there to support

Vinyard.

“Frankly, I’m ecstatic that Laura has been selected,” Bowman said.

“She’s distinguished herself among her collogues and she has the

desire to impart wisdom to her students.”

School Board President Paul Krekorian, who was also present, said

Vinyard exemplifies the qualities of the many wonderful Burbank

teachers.

“We’re very proud to have her as a representative of all our

excellent teachers,” he said.

Vinyard was grateful to her fellow teachers at her school.

“A wise person once said there’s no ‘I’ in teacher,” Vinyard said

as she addressed the crowd. “I wouldn’t be here without the support

of my colleagues at Jordan Middle School.”

Vinyard will now go on to compete in the Teacher of the Year

program at the state level. She will be visited during the month of

October by administrators from the program who will observe her

classroom.