Local Teacher Honored as 'Inspirational Teacher of the Month'

One minute, Kelley Rabasco was sitting in the corner of her first-grade classroom at Bancroft Elementary School, reading to students and helping them with their vocabulary activities.

The next minute, she was overcome with emotion, humbly weeping at the honor bestowed upon her. An honor that she says could have gone to any one of her colleagues.

Early last month, Bancroft Principal Lois DeKock and Jim Esterbrooks from the San Diego County Office of Education joined with NBC 7/39 reporter Rory Devine in surprising Rabasco during her class and naming her "Inspirational Teacher of the Month."

"I was genuinely shocked," she said, recounting the happy interruption. "Principal DeKock had told me previously, 'Make sure you wear something cute' that day. My first thought was, "Are there days when I'm not dressed cute?"

Rabasco became emotional when Esterbrooks was describing to her class of first-graders that of all the 26,000 teachers in all the schools in San Diego County, it was their own who was being rewarded. They were then interviewed by Devine to tell why they loved their teacher.

In typical first-grader fashion, the answers were across the board—everything from teaching them to write on the lines, to helping them learn math, to being nice. And pretty.

For as long as she can remember, Rabasco has always wanted to be a teacher. A product of East County schools herself, she knows the area and can understand the needs of the students. She went to elementary school in Lakeside, attended Parkway Middle School in La Mesa and Grossmont High School. Her husband was also educated in the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District.

She spent the first seven years of her career teaching in the Poway Unified School District. She then transferred to the La Mesa-Spring Valley District and was a teacher at Spring Valley Elementary School.

When that school was shut down three years ago, much like the students, the teachers were dispersed throughout various schools in the district. Wanting to stay with the kids she'd seen grow and achieve, she decided to take a transfer to Bancroft.

A versatile teacher, Rabasco has taught four different grade levels in her career. This is her first year teaching the first-grade class. She was also honored in 2009 as Bancroft's Teacher of the Year.

"Regardless of the grade she is teaching, Kelley's focus in always on her students, pushing them to achieve to their highest levels," said DeKock via e-mail. "She helps her students set goals that they understand. She holds them accountable, celebrates their successes and helps them figure out what went wrong if they don't meet their goals."

A district colleague, Julie Banks, who is the first-year principal at Loma Elementary, nominated Rabasco for the Inspirational Teacher of the Month Award. Bankes met Rabasco two years ago when the two were in a graduate program through San Diego State University.

"[Kelley] includes students in their learning and allows them to take responsibility for what they are learning, their progress, and successes.  She doesn't just teach at them," said Bankes via e-mail.  "She's self-reflective with everything she does and is always striving to do the best for each student.  She is always willing to share ideas with peers and help others."

Rabasco has a real passion for reading, writing and the language arts. She has years of experience working with the Houghton Mifflin Medallion reading program and has seen the positive effect it has had on students' abilities. She helps train her colleagues on her experiences working with the program, and she travels to different schools and other districts to talk about what works and what doesn't.

"Last year Kelley and another teacher in our district voluntarily lead district wide PLC meetings to get teachers together to share ideas and discuss instructional strategies," said Bankes.  "She also helped with district training for English Language Arts."

As excited as Rabasco is about watching her students grow, she is more proud to just be a positive example to them.

"I've worked in mostly Title 1 schools my whole career, and I know that what some of these students need more than anything are just role models," she says. "For a lot of these students, school is the only real constant in their life."

She says the most gratifying times for her are the "Aha! moments," when the light finally comes on, or she can look at the progress students have made and say, "Look what you've done."

"We have [students] for such a short time, that what I try to instill in them has to go far beyond the limits of the classroom," she says.

Which is why being honored means so much to her.

"There are so many of my colleagues who do exactly what I do. It's hard to say that I'm doing something differently," she said. "To me, I just go to work everyday and am thankful to have amazing leaders and teachers who I work with to help me want to be a better teacher."

Though a few students at Bancroft will argue that a better teacher is hard to come by.