2018 Award Recipients

Award Ceremony at the Thursday Opening Plenary

David E. Eskey Memorial Award
Sponsored by the CATESOL Education Foundation
Recipient: ​Kelly Metz-Matthews, San Diego State University
Kelly Metz-Matthews teaches English as a Second Language at San Diego State University’s American Language Institute. She is currently working on her PhD at the University of San Diego in the area of Educational Leadership for Innovation and Social Justice. Her research interests include nontraditional reading and writing pedagogies, critical pedagogy, and social justice in English language education.

Award Ceremony at the Friday Plenary

Ron Lee Technology Award
Sponsored by the CATESOL Education Foundation
Recipient: ​Catherine A. Datko, Pasadena City College
Catherine Datko has worked as a faculty instructional designer in the California Community College system for five years. Currently she is teaching English as a Second Language at Pasadena City College. Her project is to develop an online course and e-textbook for a transfer-level community college writing class. She is creating the course under Creative Commons 4.0 non-commercial license, so it will be available for other instructors to utilize and adapt to their teaching context. The e-textbook component of her project will include images, interactive videos, and annotations, and will be an Open Education Resource.
IEP Level Professional Development Award
Sponsored by ELS Learning Centers
Recipient: ​Erin Butler, UCR, International Education Programs
Erin Butler has 25 years of English language teaching, academic directing, teacher training, and curriculum development experience.  She holds a M.A. TESOL from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, a California teaching credential and a Professional TESOL Certificate from the University of California, Riverside Extension. She has lived and worked in Japan, China, South Korea, Vietnam and Riverside, California where she currently teaches.  Part of her philosophy of education includes the importance of weaving content with language, specifically building students’ intercultural and sociolinguistic competence in communication.
Adult Level Kareen Kjelstrup Memorial Professional Scholarship
Sponsored by Cambridge University Press
Recipients: ​Edward Lapporte & Richard Rose, LAUSD, West Valley Occupational Center
Edward Lapporte is a LAUSD graduate who went on to be a two-sport athlete at USC.  After studying at UC Berkeley, UCLA, UNESCO and GATT, he worked in the export trade for 10 years before becoming an educator. With the LAUSD Division of Adult and Career Education, he has taught high school subjects, has brought technology to his ESL classes and promoted student transitions to college.
Richard Rose is a Southern California native.  He has an MBA from UCLA and has been teaching adult ESL for LAUSD for more than ten years.  In 2012, he founded Build My English a school in the San Fernando Valley which specializes in helping over 2000 adults speak better English as quickly as possible.

Award Ceremony at the Saturday Plenary

Community College Level Student Essay Contest
Sponsored by Townsend Press
Recipient: ​Yuchen Chen, East Los Angeles College
I am a college student who studies at East Los Angeles Community College. My major is anthropology. The theme of my college life is trying to improve myself and help others. I can speak Chinese (Mandarin), English and Spanish. I have been an ESL tutor at East Los Angeles Community College since the beginning of the spring. I have tutored many international students and I always try to help them to build up their confidence in ESL class.

​Link to Yuchen Chen's Winning Essay

Award Ceremony at the Saturday K-12 Plenary

Secondary Level Student Essay Contest
Sponsored by National Geographic Learning
Recipient: ​Tommy Lei, JSerra Catholic High School
My name is Tommy Lei. I am a Freshman at Jserra Catholic High School. I moved to the United States three months ago from China. My hobbies include swimming, playing tennis, and playing piano. I was the champion in a piano competition in Beijing which was held by the China Music Institution. I also love studying English because it gives me a lot of fun and motivation.

Link to Tommy Lei's Winning Essay

Award Ceremony at the Adult Level Rap Session

Norma Shapiro Memorial Library Award
Sponsored by Various Publishers
Recipient: ​Lisa Bell, Evergreen Valley College
(Nominated by colleague, Robby Bodden, CTE instructor)
In her 21 years as an ESL instructor in adult ed., IEP, international and credit programs, she has managed to maintain her creativity, dedication and commitment to her profession and students.  A certified CANVAS and online teaching instructor, Lisa also annually attends the state Senate’s leadership institute.  She volunteers, leads PD, and is a Pathways and AB 705 leader. She develops curriculum and has been the part-time faculty teaching award winner in all 3 districts where she teaches.