Liz Castner, alumna of UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School, was named Special Education Teacher of the Year from the San Andreas Regional Center; the award was presented on October 20th in San Jose.
Castner graduated with a special education credential and M.Ed. from UCSB’s Teacher Education Program in 2016 and took a job in Los Altos School District. Her first year she taught in an upper elementary special day class, and from year two on, taught at the junior high, all within that district. She teaches living skills, English, math, science/history, and is co-teaching Leadership. Castner completed induction last year and became officially tenured at the start of this year. She writes, “Fun stuff—we run a coffee business, have a full life skills classroom with a kitchen, washer dryer, and a garden, and the 8th grade students and I will be going to Yosemite for science camp this fall.” Her BA is in Psychology from NYU (2010).