Area
A: Angela Curiale of Sacramento City College has
been a professor of psychology since 1977.
Dedicating her professional life to the social
betterment of her community, Curiale comprehends “the
gift and responsibility that is education” and
strives to bequeath its benefits to diverse
populations. She shows unwavering compassion
for social and cultural differences and the
obstacles that may accompany them, while maintaining
high expectations for all. During her two terms
as local senate president, she spearheaded
a senate constitutional revision to protect
the participation rights of part-time faculty
and was instrumental in creating a modern student
learning center, one of her college’s
treasured assets. Her irrepressible social
activism has also spurred her to aid and support
such diverse groups as teenage mothers, rape
victims, mentally-disturbed offenders, and
corrections officers. Her championing of these
groups—and individuals--has garnered
widespread honors for Curiale from the community
and academic sectors, including Sacramento
City College’s Award of Excellence and
the YWCA’s Woman of the Year Award for
Activism.
Area
B: Cynthia McGrath, journalism professor at
Los Medanos College, demonstrates
intense concern for her students as individuals,
contributing to their success in all aspects
of their lives. McGrath takes a holistic approach
to teaching, “feed[ing] the body and
psyche, as well as the intellect” of
her students, both literally and figuratively.
Identifying the talents and difficulties of
each student, she responds to ensure their
growth, often working with faculty outside
her discipline to promote students’ overall
academic success, and even taking on the role
of confidante and benefactor. For McGrath,
teaching and learning are reciprocal experiences;
thus, she empowers her pupils by having them
teach one another, a method shown to improve
retention significantly. McGrath has been an
active member of a variety of campus committees,
has served as statewide president of the community
college journalism association, and remains
active in the community providing outreach
to local middle and high schools to serve as
a mentor
and resource to their journalism programs.
Area
C: Peter O. Haslund of Santa Barbara City College has
been a professor of political science for the
past 35 years, with especial emphasis on international
relations. It is his belief that, beyond relating
the facts of a discipline, it is more important
that teachers “share our own enthusiasm
about learning and thinking critically.” As
a Holocaust survivor, an immigrant, and a Vietnam
War veteran, he is particularly passionate
about increasing global awareness among his
students and throughout the community at large.
He has gone to extraordinary lengths as a educational
proponent of that cause as seen in his creation
of a comprehensive, interdisciplinary major
at his college, known as Global and International
Studies, which he directs. As a staunch advocate
of active engagement as a tool to stimulate
students’ critical thinking and motivation,
he also employs it in the classroom; his United
Nations course and model UN simulation directly
involves the students as diplomats representing
varying cultures and interests.
Area
D: Zoe Close of Grossmont College has
been an instructor of philosophy, humanities,
and religious studies since 1985. Her core
belief as an educator is that “students
are precious gifts in human form which must
be accepted with gratitude and given the
greatest care.” She too employs a holistic
approach to benefit students’ overall
development as human beings. Good teaching,
she believes, lays the groundwork for further
intellectual development in a field and demonstrates
how subject content applies practically in
everyday life. Believing ethics and morality
to be paramount virtues, Close also strives
to instill in her pupils the drive to contribute
to humanity’s progress, and she accepts
it as her duty as a role model to demonstrate
flexibility in her approaches, humility in
her knowledge, and optimism in her ambitions.
She further encourages students’ newly
developed decision-making skills by fostering
their participation in clubs and in the governing
processes at the campus and district levels.
Area
A: Angela Curiale of Sacramento City College has
been a professor of psychology since 1977.
Dedicating her professional life to the social
betterment of her community, Curiale comprehends “the
gift and responsibility that is education” and
strives to bequeath its benefits to diverse
populations. She shows unwavering compassion
for social and cultural differences and the
obstacles that may accompany them, while maintaining
high expectations for all. During her two terms
as local senate president, she spearheaded
a senate constitutional revision to protect
the participation rights of part-time faculty
and was instrumental in creating a modern student
learning center, one of her college’s
treasured assets. Her irrepressible social
activism has also spurred her to aid and support
such diverse groups as teenage mothers, rape
victims, mentally-disturbed offenders, and
corrections officers. Her championing of these
groups—and individuals--has garnered
widespread honors for Curiale from the community
and academic sectors, including Sacramento
City College’s Award of Excellence and
the YWCA’s Woman of the Year Award for
Activism. 
Area
B: Cynthia McGrath, journalism professor at
Los Medanos College, demonstrates
intense concern for her students as individuals,
contributing to their success in all aspects
of their lives. McGrath takes a holistic approach
to teaching, “feed[ing] the body and
psyche, as well as the intellect” of
her students, both literally and figuratively.
Identifying the talents and difficulties of
each student, she responds to ensure their
growth, often working with faculty outside
her discipline to promote students’ overall
academic success, and even taking on the role
of confidante and benefactor. For McGrath,
teaching and learning are reciprocal experiences;
thus, she empowers her pupils by having them
teach one another, a method shown to improve
retention significantly. McGrath has been an
active member of a variety of campus committees,
has served as statewide president of the community
college journalism association, and remains
active in the community providing outreach
to local middle and high schools to serve as
a mentor 
Area
C: Peter O. Haslund of Santa Barbara City College has
been a professor of political science for the
past 35 years, with especial emphasis on international
relations. It is his belief that, beyond relating
the facts of a discipline, it is more important
that teachers “share our own enthusiasm
about learning and thinking critically.” As
a Holocaust survivor, an immigrant, and a Vietnam
War veteran, he is particularly passionate
about increasing global awareness among his
students and throughout the community at large.
He has gone to extraordinary lengths as a educational
proponent of that cause as seen in his creation
of a comprehensive, interdisciplinary major
at his college, known as Global and International
Studies, which he directs. As a staunch advocate
of active engagement as a tool to stimulate
students’ critical thinking and motivation,
he also employs it in the classroom; his United
Nations course and model UN simulation directly
involves the students as diplomats representing
varying cultures and interests. 
Area
D: Zoe Close of Grossmont College has
been an instructor of philosophy, humanities,
and religious studies since 1985. Her core
belief as an educator is that “students
are precious gifts in human form which must
be accepted with gratitude and given the
greatest care.” She too employs a holistic
approach to benefit students’ overall
development as human beings. Good teaching,
she believes, lays the groundwork for further
intellectual development in a field and demonstrates
how subject content applies practically in
everyday life. Believing ethics and morality
to be paramount virtues, Close also strives
to instill in her pupils the drive to contribute
to humanity’s progress, and she accepts
it as her duty as a role model to demonstrate
flexibility in her approaches, humility in
her knowledge, and optimism in her ambitions.
She further encourages students’ newly
developed decision-making skills by fostering
their participation in clubs and in the governing
processes at the campus and district levels.