Each year, Los Alamitos Unified School District participates in the State Teacher of the Year Program. At the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, April 21, Mrs. Gina Marie Decker was honored and celebrated as the 2015 Teacher of the Year for the district. Her family and many staff members were there to join the Board of Education in honoring her excellent work with children.
According to a statement issued by the district, 11 years ago, Decker embarked on a second career, one that landed her at Rossmoor Elementary School, and she has never looked back. This was an opportunity for Decker to fulfill her dreams of working with children and making a difference in their young lives and in their futures. Decker is an outstanding teacher and has been an integral participant and leader with various initiatives at her site and across the district. She initiated an after school improvisation club that joined high school and elementary students. Her classroom is a model site for depth and complexity implementation. She is a trainer for reading and writing workshop. She is a master teacher, helping college students take their first steps as a classroom teacher. She is a beginning teachers support and assessment mentor for new teachers to the district. Decker has also participated on a myriad of committees, such as operations steering, curriculum steering, and groups that write curricular units and benchmark assessments. She is a valued and respected teacher at her site and recently traveled with her colleagues to Washington, DC to celebrate the Blue Ribbon award for Rossmoor Elementary.
Decker’s classroom is safe, nurturing, and academically rigorous. She has a relentless desire to help all students learn and to thrive. She believes in her students and the power of public education in improving lives. Her lessons demonstrate creativity and differentiation so that all students benefit from the best first instruction. Decker loves every day, but particularly the first day and any time that a student’s eyes light up with the realization that they have learned something new.
Decker is married, has one son who graduated from Los Alamitos High School, and loves to travel.
