The Teacher of the Year award is given to the teacher who worked the hardest, kept spirits high, and overall was a good representative of the Mt. SAC ECA community. 

Ms. Yao was given the Teacher of the Year award presented by peer leadership! Ms. Hoffman and peer leadership organized a ceremony to present this award, this took place before a house competition. 

Ms. Yao gave an acceptance speech of, “Thank you to everyone who helped me become the teacher I am. Without you guys there wouldn’t be me”. 

Ms. Yao attended Penn State college. She initially majored in engineering, however she wasn’t too fond about the subject after a semester. When deciding what she should major in, she thought about what she was passionate about and loved. Ms. Yao was a softball player and was assisting her coach in teaching lessons, which led her to the idea of being a P.E teacher.

“I have two role models[:] my grandmother [and father]. [My grandmother] made many sacrifices as a single parent for my mother and her 5 siblings…She was basically a second mother to me throughout my childhood [and] is where my very dry humor comes from. She was the person that always made me feel loved…whether she cooked a special meal for me or tried to make me feel better by slathering VIX vapor rub all over me. She is my superwoman! My second role model is my father [as] I have always admired his amazing work ethic and how he always does everything with 100% effort. He is kind, generous, loyal, incredibly empathetic, and has so much integrity. He was so dedicated to helping me be a better softball player[, taking] me to every [lesson and] practice. Then he would make time…to practice outside of…scheduled practices. I don’t know where I would be without the both of them! I’m one lucky person!”

“Ms Yao is a very cool teacher and is very inclusive with her students and makes sure everyone is able to participate.” said Gabriella Jacobo.

“She’s very positive and lively.” said Kayla Nyugen