More than 30 Culver City Unified School District (CCUSD) employees were nominated and will compete with each other to receive the 2016 Teacher of the Year, Classified Employee of the Year, and Volunteer of the Year awards.
This year’s winners will be selected at Tribute to the Stars, an annual event sponsored by the Culver City Education Foundation (CCEF) to be held at the Culver Studios Saturday, April 30.
The three categories of winners are sponsored by three different organizations. The Teacher of the Year Award is sponsored by Sony Pictures Entertainment, Classified Employee of the Year is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Culver City, and the Volunteers of the Year Award is sponsored by Symantec.
The festivities for Tribute to the Stars will begin with cocktail hour at 6 p.m. followed by the award presentations at 7:15 pm. and then a street party at 8:30 p.m. featuring music, dancing, food from Culver City’s best restaurants, a balloon pop, and a gem raffle.
Although the event is not scheduled until this Saturday, some winners have already been selected. Front & Center Theatre Collaborative won the Rachlin Partners/CCUSD Superintendent’s Award; Mike Korgan, Director of CCUSD Maintenance, Operations, and Transportation won the Harris & Associates/MACCS Employee of the Year; and Chuck Perelman, owner of Premier Properties Inc., won the Paula & Tom Wilson/CCEF Shining Star Award.
Nominees for Sony Pictures Entertainment Teacher of the Year are:
Renee Bailey from the Office of Child Development
Kimberly Diamond of El Marino Language School
Tiana Rezac of El Rincon Elementary
Shonda O’Neal of Farragut Elementary
Annie Mendez of La Ballona Elementary
Darla Frazier of Lin Howe Elementary
Donna Bergonzi of Culver City Middle School
Tony Spano of Culver City High School
Stephanie Bentsvi of Culver Park High School
Joy Rosenberg of CCUSD Adult School
Alejandra Valencia of the CCUSD District Office
Nominees for the Rotary Club of Culver City Classified Employee of the Year are:
Angelica Soria from the Office of Child Development
Christine Barocio from the El Marino Language School
Sherri Prendergast of El Rincon Elementary
Mari Ruiz of Farragut Elementary
Gaby Díaz of La Ballona Elementary
Marlene Gaines of Lin Howe Elementary
Susan Herrera of Culver City Middle School
Manuel Chavez of Culver City High School
Michael Marshall of Culver Park High School (jointly awarded)
Michael Marshall of CCUSD Adult School (jointly awarded)
Rosann Nakanishi of the CCUSD District Office
Judith Quiñonez of CCUSD Food Services
Nominees for the Symantec Volunteers of the Year are:
Megan Rawls from the Office of Child Development
Nisha Horton from the El Marino Language School
Summer McBride of El Rincon Elementary
Karen and Bernard Sissel of Farragut Elementary
Rob Cox of La Ballona Elementary
Joanna Brody of Lin Howe Elementary
Sara Kocher of Culver City Middle School
Scott Zeidman of Culver City High School
Ooun Chan Li of Culver Park High School
Erol Cilengir of CCUSD Adult School
Culver Studios is located at 9336 W. Washington Blvd in Culver City.
For more information on the upcoming Tribute to the Stars event, go to www.ccef4schools.org
