CLASP recognizes Ann Park as the winner of the 2024 CLASP Teaching Award for K-12 Educators.
Ann serves as a Sheltered English Immersion teacher at Bridges Academy in Oakland, California, where 80% of students are English learners. Due to a significant increase of newcomers from Guatemala, Ann has sought out opportunities to learn more about the country. In July 2023, she participated in Stanford CLAS’ summer program in Guatemala.
At Bridges Academy, Ann has been essential in creating a culturally responsive curriculum that uplifts student voices and that reflects their histories. She believes that home visits are an essential part of her teaching practice, as they are meaningful ways to empower families and build relationships. As such, Ann not only conducted visits to her students’ homes in Oakland, but she also traveled to Todos Santos, Guatemala, where many of her students originated. While there, she studied Mam language and met with families of current and former students.
Ann’s colleagues have witnessed Ann constantly finding new ways to adapt her instruction to meet the needs of her students while learning and growing herself. This sentiment was expressed by Newcomer Language Specialist Jessica Jung, who wrote a letter of support for Ann, stating, “Ann found ways to apply English Language Development standards into exciting, motivating, and relevant content for the students…[she has empowered her students] “through a series of US and Latin America history lessons integrated with English Language Arts built around a social justice framework.”
Not only does Ann have a huge impact on students at her own school, she has also generously shared her knowledge and time with with educators from across the District. Recently, she presented at the Oakland Unified School District’s Latino Thriving Summit about how to integrate Latino history in Elementary Schools. She will continue this work with the Ethnic Studies department to create a unit that can be shared and used widely across schools in Oakland.
The CLASP selection committee was profoundly moved and impressed by Ann’s commitment to her students and are honored to present her with the K12 Teaching Award.