The Cotsen Foundation takes great joy from seeing so many alumni, mentors and fellows alike, rising to new heights as leaders in their schools/districts. The following are the names of Cotsen alumni who have taken on new leadership positions as of the 2019 鈥� 2020 academic year and/or have received advanced degrees in 2019: Andrea […]
The calendar still says summer, and the days, though growing increasingly shorter, continue to be baked by a sun that seems not quite ready to give way to the crispness of fall. 聽Yet across the country, teachers and students fill classrooms as they enter into another year of intellectual exploration and growth. It鈥檚 the beginning […]
Founder of The Educator Collaborative, Chris Lehman, and The Educator Collaborative Book Ambassador and teacher librarian, Julia Torres, led the first Alumni Speaker Series of the 2019-2020 school year. Their presentation titled, Literacy as a Tool for Collective Liberation: Culturally Responsive Teaching in the K-6 Classroom,聽centered on confronting the many challenges educators face on the […]
Dr. George Herrera, principal at Villacorta Elementary School, is preparing his school for its first year in the 快活林app of TEACHING fellowship program. But his work as a leader and principal over the last three years has earned him district-wide recognition this year. The Rowland Unified School District has named Dr. George Herrera the District […]
Rudy Gonzalez, Principal of Morrison Elementary School in the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District, never planned on leading a school that had been awarded the prestigious California Distinguished School Award three times in one decade (2008, 2012, 2018). In fact as a financial analyst and financial consultant, teaching had never crossed his mind until he […]
In the fall of 2006 the Cotsen Foundation held its first Annual ART of TEACHING Conference with just over 200 in attendance. The conference鈥檚 intent was to jump start mentors鈥� and fellows鈥� ideas and motivation for enhancing their teaching practice in both content and pedagogy. To achieve this, the Cotsen Foundation brought in speakers with […]
A collaboration between the Riordan and Cotsen Foundations has opened up new grant opportunities for Cotsen schools. Melrose and Beethoven Street Elementary Schools were selected this year as recipients of the Riordan Foundation鈥檚 Instructional Innovation Grants. Last year, another Cotsen school, Mill School and Technology Academy, also received an Instructional Innovation grant from the Foundation. […]
Over the course of three consecutive years of Cotsen Strategic Opportunity Grants, Fountain Valley School District has utilized collaboration as a tool for professional development to transform teaching and learning in the area of mathematics. The catalyst behind this transformation was a Cotsen alumna fellow, who had a big goal – to bring together teachers […]
Kim Bass鈥檚 presentation at Cotsen鈥檚 first-ever Playground Challenge was literally garbage. But as regularly happens in innovative classrooms, a pile of trash can yield pedagogical treasures to facilitate collaborative STEM/STEAM teaching and learning. Bass, a third grade teacher at Robert C. Fisler School in Fullerton, stood in front of a table covered with a maze […]
Reflection, Gratitude, and Humor The 快活林app of TEACHING celebrated its annual culmination once again at the Skirball Art and Cultural Center on May 6th where 69 mentors and fellows were honored for their successful completion of the two-year fellowship. Following remarks by Executive Director Jerry Harris, Dr. Uri D.Herscher, president of the Skirball, gave […]