Teachers

KBAY Teacher of the Month

The KBAY Teacher of the Month for July is Cyndi MacDonald, who teaches at Ben Painter Elementary School in the Alum Rock District. Cyndi will receive a $500 Innovation Grant for her classroom from the San José Education Foundation..

Cyndi says the best thing about being a teacher is, “seeing the changes in the students both academically and in maturity. Knowing that the tools I have provided will be used and remembered for the rest of their lives—that’s the best part.”

Prior to becoming a teacher Cyndi MacDonald was a radio DJ and TV engineer in Montana and worked for 15 years in the high tech industry of Austin, Texas. She began teaching as a long term substitute and eventually was hired to teach 5th grade at Painter.

Cyndi will use her SJEF Teacher Innovation Grant to further her “Lessons in Humanity” community service project with her students. Specifically, the money will be used for the purchase of materials to make tent fresheners that will be sent to troops in Iraq. “The summer months in Iraq produce temperatures reaching 140 degrees and when hearing about how stinky the tents were getting, we wanted to help the men and women to have a better smell in their tents. Hence the Innovation Grant went to STINKY TENT GO BYE BYE!”. “‘Lessons in Humanity’ is a program that teaches selflessness, compassion and accountability to my students. We have decorated hospital rooms of students, become pen pals and made care packages for troops.”

“Painter is a school made up of 43% Hispanic students and 37% Asian students. In my class I have 20 students in all and I teach multiple subjects. My favorite is teaching the science and math along with life skills.”

The greatest challenge Cyndi faces is the lack of science curriculum. She has met this challenge by collaborating with other school districts and by using the internet.

Congratulations to Cyndi MacDonald, KBAY’s Teacher of the Month for July.