Kudos to Oscar Browne and his convention committee for the wonderful CATE 2004 Convention in San Diego! The outstanding program with world renowned speakers, informative workshops, and delicious meals helped to make the time together a professionally enriching and personally rewarding experience for the nearly one thousand veteran, novice, and student teachers who assembled to share and learn more about “Yesterday’s Language, Today’s Literature, Tomorrow’s Legacy. Of course the energy and enthusiasm of the volunteers, the breadth and depth of the exhibits, and the lovely weather simply enhanced the ambiance and stimulated the conversations at this 45th Annual Convention.

Once again as President, I had the privilege of presenting awards to exemplary California teachers, and to community members who support educators and their students. An integral part of the convention is the time we set aside at each general session and convention meal event to announce the awards and to read portions of letters written by students, parents, colleagues and administrators. You can see the recipients in the photo journal prepared by Larry Jordan, our able Webmaster. I invite you to take a few moments to visit cateweb.org and to view the people, places, and events.

It is a joy to use this column to share with you the names of those who received these awards during the CATE 2004 convention and to invite you to consider nominating through your own council one of your colleagues to receive such an honor next year in Santa Clara during CATE 2005 when the theme will be “The Power of One Teacher”. Each year, each council may nominate an educator in a designated category for the Classroom Excellence Awards, and an individual or organization for the Awards of Merit. The Virginia Reid Scholarship is for a novice elementary school teacher who has begun to exhibit leadership qualities, and the Career Achievement Award is a special award, not necessarily given annually. And finally, the CATE Board selects a long time CATE member and leader to receive the Distinguished Service Award.

Distinguished Service Award (2004) – for long term service at the local, state, and national level: Vince Piro, Merced Community College, Merced

Career Achievement Award – for lifetime career contributions in support of English/language arts: James Gray, National Writing Project, Berkeley

Classroom Excellence Awards (2004) - for for exceptional work in their schools:

Edgar Acosta, Marcus Garvey Junior High School, Fresno
Margaret Cartwright, Marina Village School, El Dorado Hills
Pam Cavanagh, Arcata High School, Arcata
Jefferlyn Davis, Mt. Pleasant High School, San Jose
Sushanna Ellington, Vintage High School, Napa
Mariana Figueroa, Christopher School, San Jose
James Flood, San Diego State University, San Diego
Corinne Hales, Fresno State University, Fresno
Diane Lapp, San Diego State University, San Diego
Karen Martinez, Edgewood Academy, La Puente
Sandy Robertson, Santa Barbara Junior High School, Santa Barbara
Dean Simpson, Mt. Whitney High School, Visalia
Rita Smith, Nelson Middle School, Oroville

Awards of Merit (2004) - for individuals and community organizations who support English/language arts education:

Cathy Adkins, Willow Glen Books, San Jose
Tony Fadale, Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance, Los Angeles
Irwin Herman, Irwin the Bookman, San Diego

Virginia Reid Scholarship (2004) - for novice elementary school teacher:
Shelley Vizcarra, Pinedale Elementary School, Fresno

I urge you to begin now planning and saving to attend CATE 2005 and to follow the plans for the convention by reading California English I and by regularly visiting the website, cateweb.org. You will notice at the website a MEMBERS ONLY section instituted by the Publications Committee and designed to keep members abreast of current issues impacting or influencing educators in California, to provide a discussion board to hear the voices and opinions of members in response to topics posted by our Policy Chair, Don Mayfield, and also to be a repository for past issues of California English. Selected articles are linked from this webpage. If you have difficulty accessing the members only pages, contact Larry Jordan, our Webmaster at support@webhiway.net. We want to stay in touch until we meet again in Santa Clara for the 46th CATE convention to be held in February 2005.