Whenever Wendy Saldivar or someone in her family celebrates a victory, she cues up Kool & The Gang’s iconic song, “Celebration.”
Read more ALDS: Guardians’ Williams to start vs. White Sox’s Burke in winner-take-all Game 5
So, on Thursday, Oct. 8, with her husband and their three children, the windows were rolled down and the music turned up.
“Guys, I have something to tell you,” she told them. “I got California Teacher of the Year!
“And they were yelling and super happy and we were driving with the windows down and wind in our hair and just hearing the song. That moment brought everything that I worked so hard for in our community back to my home.”
Saldivar, a multi-subject Spanish dual immersion teacher at Loara Elementary School in Anaheim, is one of five teachers statewide to receive the coveted educator distinction.
“California’s Teachers of the Year represent the very best of our profession,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said in a statement announcing the winners. “They see the potential in every student and work each day to ensure all students have the opportunity to succeed.”
“These exceptional educators are an inspiration and example of the exceptional work going on in California schools,” he added. “I am proud to recognize them and grateful for the difference they are making for our students.”
Brittany Walters, a kindergarten multiple-subject teacher at Dr. Peter Marshall Elementary in the Magnolia School District in Anaheim, was among the four teachers named as finalists this year. Both were named Orange County teachers of the year in May and moved on for statewide consideration.
Saldivar, who is finalizing work for her PhD at Concordia University, said she was on a call with the department chair discussing final elements of her dissertation when she got a call from an unknown number. It was Thurmond.
She said Thornton told her he’s excited to have her join his team and that she will represent California as an ambassador for education.
Saldivar, who’s been teaching for 12 years, including some high school classes, said she wants to use her higher profile to speak up for teachers, the Anaheim community, and her students.
She also said she’s hopeful the state recognition will open doors to join state education committees to address standards and curricula.
Among the topics Saldivar would like to dive deeper into is math instruction within the immersive bilingual student education, she said. She said that topic is also the focus of her dissertation, which she will defend next week.
“I want to continue bringing the rigor,” she said, referring to math instruction in her classes. “Not just because students can’t speak English fluently and are struggling through the language, but what can we do to maintain the rigor and keep them engaged?”
She hopes to continue studying this topic and even move some of that work to the state committees.
“I’d love to join the math committee,” she said, adding that in her classroom instruction she brings in community members who have jobs in fields where math is among the core foundation.
At times, she’s brought in her husband, who is an engineer, to speak with students and even help her explain some math concepts that are harder.
Read more Rams’ Aaron Donald ready to return against the Bills
She also hosts a “Think like an Engineer” night with her husband and other engineers talking about their different occupations.
As a lure, Saldivar said she hands out “Saldi Bucks,” which students can earn if they do extraordinary things such as doing a special presentation, exhibiting polite behavior or participating in special activities such as the engineering night. Each week they deposit their money in the bank and have to do math on their balance.
The engineering night also gives her an opportunity to connect with families in the community.
“What I love about math is there’s different ways to solve a math problem, it’s just not one way,” Saldivar said. “It makes parents comfortable with that. They’re like, ‘Oh, this is how I learned to do math.’ All these things and pairing them up with the recognition, maybe we can make it bigger now.”
In the end, Saldivar said math matters not only for daily life, like paying bills and balancing bank accounts, but also for building a strong foundation in logical and analytical thinking.
“A lot of us could understand math,” she said, adding that she had her own fears wth it as a young student. “But we need somebody to really explain it to us in a way that we can really understand it.”
“Especially in math, there are so many levels our kids come in at,” she added. “I have some fifth graders doing eighth-grade math — they just get it. But I have some struggling and they’re around the third-grade level.”
“I feel so many students don’t go into the STEM fields,” a lot of which are math-related, she said, and giving a student that initial understanding might help them see a career they might not have considered otherwise.
Monica Berro, Loara Elementary School’s principal, said Saldivar’s commitment to ensuring students aren’t left behind sets her apart. The pre-K to 6th grade school has an enrollment of 519 students.
“When she sees her students struggle, she’s their biggest cheerleader, and the perseverance her students display, you can see it.”
“There are times when I’ve gone in and seen her step back, and the students are running the show themselves,” Berro added. “They’re teaching each other and explaining the math problem.”
And when she heard Saldivar was named among the top teachers of California, Berro said she wasn’t surprised.
“This is so fitting for Wendy,” Berro said. “I knew when we first went through the process, and she was identified as Teacher of the Year at our site, and once I knew she received Teacher of the Year for the district, I said, ‘Wendy, you can take it far. You’re not stopping at the district recognition.’ It’s honorable, and she wears it well.”
Berro said that Saldivar’s enthusiasm for teaching and learning is contagious not only among her students but also to her colleagues and other teachers in the district.
“Anytime you’re in her classroom, you see the community and the culture she’s established with her young learners,” Berro said. “When I see her working with her students, they’re welcomed in her learning environment and have that sense of discovery and willingness to try new things.”
Read more AI, tech leaders are lobbying Trump health officials in a government-run chat room