Coco Aguirre honored by Chamber as Educator of the Month
July 08, 2011
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
One of the area’s most respected teaches, Mary “Coco” Aguirre, was honored by the Chamber of Commerce during the June Good Morning Santa Paula as the Educator of the Month.
The breakfast meeting was held June 14 at Logsdon’s at the Santa Paula Airport.
Principal Sheryl Misenhimer told the GMSP crowd that Leslie and John Nichols, who had just been honored by the Chamber for their contributions to the cultural arts, have much in common with McKevett Elementary School. “This dovetails with the special award for the Nichols, because the arts, theater arts, fine arts is what McKevett is all about... and aside from our strong arts presence and high quality in our education, what really makes it McKevett so wonderful is that we have Coco!”
Aguirre has been a Santa Paula Elementary School District teacher for 31 years, after spending “five years in another town and one year at Briggs Elementary School. And from everyone’s knowledge of and experience with Coco, she should not just get Educator of the Month, but the Educator of the Century!”
Misenhimer said Aguirre warrants such an award, as “What she does for those kids is far greater than has ever been seen, a cut above” and a constant priority for Aguirre, who is always striving to better the education of her students and skills of her peers. “We would be lost without Coco,” said Misenhimer, who told the teacher, “You are marvelous and we thank you so much for what you do!”
Aguirre thanked her students, family, peers and the Chamber, noting, “As you can see no one can get to the top without a helping hand... I choose to live and work in Santa Paula and wanted to give back what I had.... I’m very proud of my work,” and Aguirre said Santa Paula is where she will continue to teach and live, as “This is home.”
Aguirre, honored numerous times for her dedication to education and quest for innovative teaching methods, told of a special program she took part in last year at the University of California Santa Barbara that has a new approach for teaching math. “Every year I look for something new that will sharpen my teaching” to benefit her students, and Aguirre said the new method of teaching math involves attaching math to everyday life. “You give children the theory and the process of math, but you have to tell them why it is important; not just what it is, but why it is, and give them the opportunity to see the reality of math in their lives.”
Misenhimer noted, “Each year people come from all over the state to sit in Coco’s class, to learn” by observing her innovative methods. “We are so proud to have Coco at McKevett!”
Aguirre introduced her husband Dr. Gabino Aguirre, a retired high school principal and former Santa Paula City Councilman who is now traveling the state taking testimony as a member of the state voter-created Citizens Redistricting Committee.
Noted GMSP Moderator Ben Schuck, “I hope you hang your award in the classroom, and when the children ask about it you say what this is for and what it means.”
“Each year I format what I want them to accomplish,” and Aguirre said at the end of the school year, “I tell them the brain has the power to earn money and they must use their brain, go to college,” study hard, and “be successful” in life and career.
