Anna Barajas Teacher of the year at Lake Los Angeles School
Lake Los Angeles School – Step back in time to 2015 when teacher Anna Barajas was chosen Teacher of the Year. She had completed 5 years of teaching at LLA School. Now she was again chosen as Teacher of the Year in 2021-2022.
Mrs. Barajas has been a teacher for Keppel for 17 years. For four years she taught at Antelope and thirteen at LLA School. She is a dedicated career 1st grade teacher but has also taught 3rd and 5th grades. Her previous teaching experience was 6th grade at Santa Rosa Catholic School in San Fernando.
Prior to earning her credentials, Mrs. Barajas gained valuable classroom experience being a teacher’s assistant for 13 years at Fenton Avenue Charter School in Lake View Terrace where she supervised the Writing to Read lab.
Mrs. Barajas commented, “Working with students is very rewarding. That feeling is magnified when working with students from disadvantaged background. I know that the time and effort I put into these children will help them improve their future. This is why I understand first-hand the importance of my vocation. This is why I challenge myself and my students every year.
“Although I came from a lower socio-economic background with a broken home in Pacoima, I feel; it was the teachers who showed me that they sincerely cared for me and challenged me which out me on the right track.”
In her classes, the emphasis continues to be on writing. “I integrate writing within my science and social studies classes. We write on various genres. I give them facts on non-fiction subjects then I have them do opinion pieces and narrative on those subjects. My students’ reading genres are fiction, non-fiction, realistic fiction and biography. Then they type their piece on the computer. It is very successful.”
“I feel so honored to have been chosen once, and now twice.”
By Shirley Harriman
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