September 7, 2017:  The Moreland School District is proud to announce that Moreland Middle School English Language Arts and Social Studies teacher for English Learner students, Shanna Urbancic, has been selected as one of three teachers to represent Santa Clara County at the California State Teacher of the Year competition.  Every year, the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) nominates three teachers, one for every 5,000 teachers working in the region.

Each year, the Moreland School District celebrates and honors staff with an Employee of the Year celebration at a Board of Trustees meeting in the Spring.  Each school honors a chosen Certificated, Classified, and Volunteer of the Year and the District selects one of those honorees to represent the District in County and Regional competitions.  This past Spring, Moreland selected Shanna Urbancic as the District Certificated Person of the Year to represent Moreland at the Santa Clara County Office of Education Teacher of the Year celebration; Chanelle Brearley, Administrative Assistant at Latimer, will represent Moreland at the upcoming Santa Clara County Office of Education Classified Person of the Year competition; and Baker parent, Michelle Mapes, represented the Moreland School District at the annual Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) Volunteer Recognition event held last May.

If selected as California Teacher of the Year, Shanna said she will stand for social justice within education.  “One part of our current climate is an awareness of people from different cultures and countries.  We need to focus on embracing differences rather than rejecting them.  We can focus on celebrating differences, bringing more culturally relevant education into the classroom and teaching tolerance to the current generation in schools,” says Shanna.

Shanna will be recognized at the 48th Annual Teacher Recognition Celebration on September 14, 2017, hosted by the SCCOE.  The California Department of Education will make their final selection for State Teacher of the Year in October.