This week we celebrated the excellent educational program in Arcadia Schools with the recognition of the February and March Teachers of the Month.  For February, the honoree is Paul Childs, a 17-year educator who teaches 7th grade History and English at First Avenue Middle School.  Paul earned his BA in Communications from Houghton College, his MA in Cross Cultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary, and his credential from Cal State LA. 
      In the classroom, Paul likes to use humor as a teaching tool plus he enjoys designing creative projects and games that help students learn.  He is a big advocate for reading and has his own classroom library of over 1,500 books.  He says his biggest reward in teaching is when students tell him how much they learned in his class or how much they remember what they did because they enjoyed it so much. 
     Paul has received PTA’s Very Special Person Award and has been named a Profile in Excellence in the District’s staff recognition program.  If he looks familiar, it is because he was Rotary’s Teacher of the Month in April 1998 when he taught at Dana Middle School.
     In his personal life, Paul is involved in his church, enjoys writing, biking, hiking, and movies, and has a pet pug dog.

      The March Teacher of the Month is Alison Jensen, 4th grade teacher at Longley Way Elementary School.  Alison earned her BA in Child Development from San Jose State University and her MA in Educational Technology from Azusa Pacific University.  She has been with Arcadia Unified for 10 years.
      While teaching her 4th graders about California history, a special project is to learn several songs from different time periods and then perform the songs, along with narration, to tell the story about California’s growth.  The students also take this activity “on the road” as they perform it at a local retirement center where the residents really enjoy the songs and often sing along with the students.
      In addition to her classroom teaching, Alison manages Longley Way’s web page and is the coordinator of “Fit Kids,” a lunch time walking/running club for 4th/5th grade students.  Outside of Longley Way, Alison is the Arcadia High School Boys and Girls Jr. Varsity Swim Coach.
     Alison has received PTA’s Honorary Service Award, been award an Arcadia Educational Foundation mini grant, and was chosen as an Educator to Japan by Japanese Business Association.
      In her spare time, Alison competes in triathlons and last summer completed her first full Ironman Triathlon in 13 hours and 52 minutes.