EDITOR'S NOTE: For more information on the recipients in your readership area, please contact Ken Swisher at the CSU Public Affairs Office 562-951-4806.

The California State University honored outstanding alumni teachers from each of its 22 campuses at its September Board of Trustees meeting to kick off the year-long CSU Celebrating Teachers campaign. Sponsored by the CSU Alumni Council, the campaign is designed to heighten awareness of the importance of quality teachers and the major role the CSU plays in teacher education.

The recipients also participated in a symposium at the Chancellor's Office at which they shared their thoughts on teacher preparation, major teaching challenges, and continuing education for teachers. Among the concerns and challenges the teachers expressed were:

• Giving teacher education students hands-on experience early in their curriculum
• The importance of a seamless education
• Increasing parental and community involvement in education
• Additional support for first-year teachers
• Better use of technology
• More comunication about successful teaching programs
• Changing the public perception of teachers

"In survey after survey, education is consistently ranked as the number one policy concern around the state - as well as across the country," said CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed. "The CSU will obviously play a major role because of its teacher-training capacity and expertise. But the sheer size of the task ahead means that we can't just have business as usual. We will have to innovate, change some of our modes of operation, and make ourselves more accessible to high-quality teaching candidates That's why I'm very glad that these top teachers -- our experts - have joined us to discuss some of the important issues and challenges that we face in teacher preparation."

The CSU prepares about 60 percent of the teachers in the state, and more than half of all the California Teacher of the Year recipients since the award's origin in 1972 have been CSU alumni.

The recipients were chosen by the CSU campuses based on factors such as innovative teaching methods, commitment to students, leadership in mentoring future teachers and leadership in professional activities.

The Celebrating Teachers campaign also is designed to improve teacher recruitment, increase awareness of the role the CSU plays in K-12 teacher reform, and strengthen ties with alumni who are teachers in the K-12 community. Throughout the year numerous activities on CSU campuses will focus on alumni teachers.

The recipients are:

CSU Bakersfield	Bonnie Burrows	Tevis Junior High School
CSU Chico	Vicki Silva	Wyandotte Elementary School
CSU Dominguez Hills	Marjorie Bornyasz	Temecula Valley High School
CSU Fresno	Stephen Bock	Wilson Elementary School
CSU Fullerton	Shauhna Feitlin	Sierra Vista Elementary School
CSU Hayward	Ursula Sexton	Green Valley Elementary School
Humboldt State	Lucy Quinby	Eureka High School
CSU Long Beach	Cedric Anderson	Rosewood Community Education Center
CSU Los Angeles	Myra LeBendig	Foshay Learning Center
Maritime Academy	Lily Towata	Admiral Farragut Elementary School
CSU Monterey Bay	Melissa Manning	Salsipuedes Elementary School
CSU Northridge	Alison Hunsaker	Castaic Middle School
Cal Poly Pomona	Debby Ford	El Toro High School
CSU Sacramento	Patty (Vaughn) Waggoner-Yamat	Bryte Elementary School
CSU San Bernardino	Lois Clark	Mission Middle School
San Diego State	Patrick Pierson	Gaspar de Portola Middle School
San Francisco State	Reno Taini	Jefferson Union High School
San Jose State	Kristine Morrella	Abraham Lincoln Academic and Performing Arts Magnet
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo	Nancy Thompson	Coast Union High School
CSU San Marcos	Rick Ausby	Turtleback Elementary School
Sonoma State University	Jane Ginn	Richard Crane Elementary School
CSU Stanislaus	Marie Logan	Maple Learning Complex