Maggie Chen is California’s World Language Teacher of the Year, CLTA TOY 2020.
CLTA is proud and honored to announce that Maggie Chen is the new California Teacher of the Year for 2020. She will be representing California for the position of SWCOLT TOY at the SWCOLT/CLTA Annual Conference at Disneyland Resort February 2-4. The winner of that regional event will go on to represent the SWCOLT region at ACTFL in 2020.
Maggie Chen is a highly accomplished educator and lovely, warm human being. She currently teaches full-time IB Mandarin Chinese at Granada Hills Charter TK8 Program and is a member of the founding faculty there. She continues her work as LAUSD Language Consultant designing curricula for grades 6-9 intermediate Mandarin learners as well as providing support for LAUSD Mandarin teachers. Maggie still serves in her long-time position as Program Leader in the Mandarin Teacher Leadership Institute for all levels at UCLA, Occidental College. If that is not enough to take up her time, Maggie is Technology Strand Program Leader at the California World Language Project, L. A. Stars, Occidental College.
Having won multiple awards and scholarships, our new CLTA TOY has co-authored Chapter 1 in Career Technical Education course for Entrepreneurs, has been an Advisory Board Member for the book Modern Readers: College Series, has worked with and created multiple curricula, has taught Mandarin and ESL for many years, presents at conferences, has been a National Guest Teacher Advisor to the College Board Guest Teacher Summer Institute, contributed to the publication A Guide to Chinese Guest Teachers, and so much more.
Maggie was educated in Taiwan and Long Beach, earning her Single Subject Credential in Chinese, her M.A. in Communications, and her B.A. in Applied Foreign Languages.
Congratulations to our CLTA Teacher of the Year, 2020, Maggie Chen!
California Teachers of the Year
2019 Nancy Pérez is currently serving as a Spanish AP language and AP literature teacher, instructional lead, Club advisor, mentor, and Department Chair at El Diamante High School in Visalia California
2018 Iman Hashem is an instructor of Arabic at CSU Long Beach, CA; Program Director for California World Language Project at Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA; STARTALK consultant, evaluator, and team-leader
2017 Ying Jin teaches Chinese Language and Culture at Cupertino High School, Homestead High School and Fremont High School, all in the Fremont Union High School District in Sunnyvale.
2016 Liz Matchett, Spanish teacher at Henry M. Gunn High School, Palo Alto.
2015 Don Doehla, French teacher at Vintage High School, Napa.
2014 Nicole Naditz, French teacher at Bella Vista High School, Fair Oaks.
2013 Kerstin Helbing, German teacher at Gunn High School, Palo Alto.
2012 Cynthia Leathers, Spanish teacher at Redondo Union High School, Redondo Beach.
2011 Yo Azama, Japanese teacher at North Salinas High School, Salinas.
2010 Kerstin Helbing, German teacher at Gunn High School, Palo Alto.
2009 Evelyne Charvier-Berman, French professor at El Camino College, Torrance.
2008 Gloria Payette, Spanish teacher at Freedom High School, Oakley.
2007 Jamin Lynch, German teacher at Independence High School, San Jose.
2006 Christine Lanphere, French teacher at Natomas High School, Natomas.
2005 [No SWCOLT Teacher of the Year competition was held this year.]
2004 Tanya Zaccone, Spanish Teacher at Center High School, Antelope.
Please contact exec-director@clta.net for any changes or additions to this list. Thank you!
