A-PLUS EDUCATORS; 12 TEACHERS NAMED TOPS OF YEAR IN L.A. COUNTY.

Byline: Lee Condon Staff Writer

Twelve of 57 candidates have been named Los Angeles County Teachers of the Year and nominees in competition for statewide honors in 2000.

``These 12 teachers are at the top of their profession. They have been judged as the best,'' Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schools Donald W. Ingwerson said in announcing their names Wednesday in a ceremony at Joaquin Miller Elementary School in Burbank.

``They represent the excellence that our public needs to know about.''

The 12 honorees include David P. Thomson, a U.S. history teacher at Burbank High School; Judith Healy, a sixth-grade English teacher at Palm Crest Elementary School in La Canada Flintridge; Kevin McGroary, who teaches students in fifth and sixth grades at Rosedell Elementary School in the Saugus Union School District; and Ira Simonds, a history teacher at Quartz Hill High School in the Antelope Valley Union High School District.

Each of the 57 candidates was a community Teacher of the Year. After reviewing their records, a panel of judges chose 20 finalists who were interviewed before the dozen winners were selected.

None of the 12 winners teaches in the massive Los Angeles Unified School District. Although the LAUSD could have nominated as many as 30, it named only one for consideration, said Rick de la Torre, a spokesman for the county Office of Education.

Winner Thomson has been active as a mentor teacher at Burbank High, and he helps students in the Humanitas program raise funds for the Burbank Temporary Aid Center. Thomson said he finds his work exciting and likes being a teacher because ``every day is different.''

He said teachers should embrace the calls to improve public education.

``It's important for educators to answer criticism rather than back away,'' he said.

Simonds, a 31-year veteran at Quartz Hill High, said he favors education reform efforts. He said students need to be better prepared whether they are going to college right after high school graduation or entering the work force.

``We need to train them to learn. If they go to college they need to be trained to learn in college. If they go on to a job, they need to be trained to learn in their job. They have to be lifelong learners,'' said Simonds, a Lancaster resident.

Healey, the La Canada Flintridge teacher, compared teaching to hitting a really great drive in golf or being on a winning rowing team.

``If you can do that for kids, that's the joy,'' Healey said.

Like Thomson, Healey welcomed efforts to increase school accountability and reform.

``Our state is doing a better job of giving us the map,'' Healey said. ``Everyone has to have the same map, and you need the right people rowing.''

McGroary, the teacher from the Saugus district, said teaching is in his blood. ``It's ironic that I get paid to do something I enjoy every day.''

He said teachers can help make their schools better by getting involved in parent-teacher organizations.

``That's where you can be an advocate for change. Parents have to be a part of it. That's why I invite everyone into the classroom,'' McGroary said.

English teacher Ruth L. Hansen, also among the 12 winners, said she was 42 when she became a teacher 11 years ago after staying home for years to raise her children. Her experience as a mom gave her greater understanding of her eighth-grade students at Dexter Middle School in the Whittier City School District, she said.

``I know that deep inside there is a spark that can be lit that will make them want to do better in life,'' Hansen said. On her first day as a teacher, she said, she promised herself ``that I may never be the best teacher in the world, but that every day I would do my best.''

The other county Teachers of the Year are Linda Takacs, a drama and journalism teacher at Rancho-Starbuck Intermediate School in the Lowell Joint School District; Marilyn Whirry, an English teacher at Mira Costa High School in the Manhattan Beach Unified School District; Carol Becker Knapp, a special education teacher at Krantz Intermediate School in the Mountain View School District; Kristine H. Cvar, a math and science teacher at Waite Middle School in the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District; Evangelina Pando-Solis, a kindergarten teacher at Alondra School in the Paramount Unified School District; Carol Yeager, who teaches fourth- and fifth-graders at Arroyo Vista Elementary School in the South Pasadena Unified School District; and Steven M. Acciani, a music teacher at South Pointe Middle School in the Walnut Valley Unified School District.

The 12 teachers will compete next month with winners from other California counties. Five teachers will win state honors and represent California in national competition in the spring.

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Photo: (1 -- 2) Judith Healy, above, from Palm Crest Elementary School in La Canada Flintridge, speaks as one of 12 county Teachers of the Year. At left, Healy listens along with David P. Thomson, center, from Burbank High, and Ira Simonds, from Quartz Hill High, who are also among the top 12.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer