Santa Ana Teacher Honored with ‘Apple of Gold' Award for Excellence in Education
SANTA ANA, CA – October 20, 2009 – Kasey Klappenback, teacher at Santa Ana Unified School District's (SAUSD) Heroes Elementary School, has received the Apple of Gold Award for excellence in teaching and educational leadership. Klappenback was named this year's educator award recipient at the Orange County Hispanic Education Endowment Fund's (HEEF) 16th Annual Apple of Gold Gala Awards Dinner held recently.
“Kasey Klappenback has worked very hard in closing the achievement gap for Santa Ana students, improving student academic performance, and training teachers at Heroes Elementary, and throughout Santa Ana Unified as well as in other school districts,” commented Principal Maria Duran Smith. “He is always willing to support the teachers one-on-one in addition to conducting trainings during staff meetings on Thinking Maps, Write from the Beginning, assessments and using effective reading strategies, which he personally incorporates into his classroom.”
In addition, Klappenback has been honored by his peers by being the first selected Heroes Elementary School Teacher of the Year for 2009-10. Klappenback ensures that his students make connections during the day and transitions easily into various subjects. He is described as passionate about teaching and has a desire to keep finding the best methods for education.
Klappenback has taught at Santa Ana Unified since 1998. He received his bachelor's degree at Cal State Fullerton and his master's degree at Concordia University. He resides in Irvine.
For more information about Heroes Elementary School or SAUSD, visit http://www.sausd.us/. To learn more about HEEF, log on to http://www.heef.org/.
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