Congratulations to our own Allison Cyr, 3rd grade teacher at Lyndon B. Johnson Elementary School!
She was surprised with the announcement of her selection as a Riverside County Teacher of the Year on a Zoom meeting with Judy White, Ed.D., Riverside County Superintendent of Schools, the county selection committee, her principal, the DSTA president, and district Cabinet.
Allison told Dr. White and those in the meetings that she has always wanted to be a teacher. Dr. White is known for her creative poetry and she used Allison's name to create an acrostic poem describing this amazing teacher, co-worker, and human being:
- A Astonishing
- L Loyal
- L Light
- I Inspiration
- S Support
- O Overcomer
- N Nice
Several quotes from Allison's peers include: Allison knew as a child that she wanted to be a teacher and has reminisced about lining up stuffed animals and creating worksheets for them to complete. She struggled with reading growing up and remains committed to reading books aloud to her classroom as a teacher—regardless of the age of the students. Allison was diagnosed with vocal cord paralysis and her speech therapy assignment was to practice using her “real” voice which led to reading aloud to kids as a healing practice. Her students write get-well cards and send packages to people all over the U.S. like cancer patients, police officers, and veterans. She is a graduate of Desert Sands Unified School District schools. Her commitment to her community is to all students and her coworkers. Allison is a kidney donor, helping to save the life of an Indio High School teacher. Finally, a memorable quote submitted from her team...The beauty of being a teacher is that there is no such thing as an ideal day. As a class, our goal is to always be better than the day before.
Allison will now join the competition for California State Teacher of the Year. The DSUSD community knows that this Riverside County Teacher of the Year richly deserves this tremendous honor.
Congratulations, Allison!