Administration honors Westerberg as Teacher of the Year

English teacher Jonathan Westerburg teaches students on Wed. during AM Office Hours. A selection committee composed of Costa administrators and department heads reviewed a list of nominated teachers and selected Westerburg as this year's Costa's Teacher of the Year award recipient. (Photo taken by Linnea Wee).

Greta Nerad

Staff Writer

Mira Costa administration awarded English teacher Jonathan Westerberg as Mira Costa’s Teacher of the Year on April 20 to recognize his achievements in educating students.

Costa administration has presented the Teacher of the Year award to one Costa teacher every year since 1990. The award recognizes teachers who do an exceptional job presenting curriculum in an innovative way and connecting with their students, Mira Costa Principal Dr. Ben Dale said.

“We have great teachers here, so to be Teacher of the Year at Mira Costa is amazing,” Dale said. “And it’s rewarding to know you have distinguished yourself as the best of the best. [Mr. Westerberg] is an outstanding educator, allowing students to thrive in his class.”

Costa staff members nominated teachers from all departments from March 23 to April 8. A selection committee composed of Costa administrators and department heads then reviewed the list of nominated teachers and selected Westerberg as Costa’s Teacher of the Year.

“It’s awesome [to win this award] and I’m honored that the faculty chose to nominate me,” Westerberg said. “It’s a nice accolade to be honored by my own coworkers.”

Westerberg has taught English at Costa for 19 years. Next school year, Westerberg will solely teach Drama classes and run the extracurricular program alongside current Drama Department Executive Director Cary Jordahl.

“[Winning this award] came at a great time in my career, as I shift and reflect on what I’ve done and hope to do in the future,” Westerberg said. “I intend to keep the Drama program as robust as it is and am looking forward to shifting from teaching English classes to Drama.”

The Manhattan Beach Unified School District will select a district-wide Teacher of the Year on May 3 who can advance to the Los Angeles County Teacher of the Year, California state and national levels. The MBUSD Board of Trustees will honor Westerberg and the other six district Teachers of the Year at a board meeting on June 6.

“[Teaching] allows me to influence lives and be influenced by other lives, to engage in subject content that is meaningful to me and have meaningful conversations each and every day, so [teaching] is really the perfect thing for a person like me to do,” Westerberg said.