The spotlight belonged to public education’s finest Thursday night at SBCEO’s annual Education Celebration.
Hosted by the Santa Barbara County Education Office (SBCEO), the evening recognized the people who shape classrooms, inspire students, and strengthen communities across Santa Barbara County. More than 100 awards and grants were presented during the celebration, held in Solvang.
The awards and grants recognized fresh ideas and creative teaching practices that are helping students learn, connect, and thrive across Santa Barbara County classrooms.
Recipients were selected by SBCEO’s Teachers Network, which has provided $1.5 million in grants and awards since its establishment in 1983.
“Our annual Education Celebration is just that – a special celebration of the creativity, care, and dedication that educators and school staff bring forward every day,” said Santa Barbara County Superintendent of Schools Susan Salcido. “We congratulate our 2026 recipients and thank them for the meaningful impact they make in the lives of students, families, and school communities throughout our county.”
Outgoing Santa Barbara County Teacher of the Year Natalie Wilkes also took the stage for one final address to her fellow educators, reflecting on the meaning of the past year and offering words of encouragement to colleagues across the county. “Each of you in this room entered the field of education because of your passion for making a difference in the lives of the next generation — and you are,” Wilkes shared. “Together, we can continue to build classrooms where every student — and teacher — feels seen and supported.”
The evening also featured a performance by the Cold Spring School Chorus, directed by 2026 Santa Barbara Bowl Performing Arts Teacher of the Year Sara Di Salvo. Susan Salcido, Santa Barbara County Superintendent of Schools, joined People Helping People’s CEO Erica Jane Flores as emcees for the celebration.
Award recipients are listed below by category:
Crystal Apple Educator Awards
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Administrator:
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William “Bill” Woodard, Dos Pueblos High School, Santa Barbara Unified School District
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Certificated specialists:
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Camillia “Cami” Waller, Santa Maria-Bonita School District
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Jennifer Wilson, Montecito Union School, Montecito Union School District
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Classified employees:
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Martha Janzen, Delta High School, Santa Maria Joint Union High School District
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Maria Vega, Dos Pueblos High School, Santa Barbara Unified School District
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Elementary teachers:
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Grace Barton, Los Berros School, Lompoc Unified School District
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Graciela “Chely” Rodríguez, Adelante Charter School
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Secondary teachers:
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Sarah A. M. Barthel, Lompoc High School, Lompoc Unified School District
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Julio Molina, Delta High School, Santa Maria Joint Union High School District
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Early Childhood Educator
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Claire Sorensen, Harding University Partnership School, Santa Barbara Unified School District
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Bill Cirone Heart of Education Award
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Greg Eisen, Cabrillo High School, Lompoc Unified School District
Marvin Melvin Career Technical Educator Awards
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Nicole McKee Barr, Santa Barbara High School, Santa Barbara Unified School District
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Guillermo Guerra, Ernest Righetti High School, Santa Maria Joint Union High School District
For the full list of award and grant recipients and details on our generous sponsors and community partners, please visit: www.sbceo.org/
SBCEO appreciates the generous partners that provided funding for this year’s event, grants, and award recipients (listed alphabetically): Altrusa International Foundation-Santa Maria, Chevron, Cox Communications, Deckers, Driscoll’s, Fielding Graduate University, Frank Schipper Construction Company, Mechanics Bank, Melfred Borzall, Santa Barbara Bowl, Santa Barbara County Water Agency, Santa Barbara Teachers Federal Credit Union, Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Foundation, Santa Ynez Valley Foundation, SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, Ramsey Asphalt, Towbes Foundation, and TRADART Foundation.
SBCEO hosts two annual educator recognition events: Education Celebration and A Salute to Teachers in the Fall.
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Exceptional public school teachers deserve financial recognition. Merit should matter; top-tier professionals shouldn’t be locked into the exact same pay scale as everyone else.
Money is the only thing that motivates you, it appears.
Are you saying top talent shouldn’t get paid more?
They get merit raises, but educators aren’t in the job for money.
But, some people don’t understand civilization.
CTS explicitly rejects merit pay or individualized performance incentives.
What does a specific teaching curriculum have to do with teacher pay?
I assume you mean CTA, not CTS?
How would you define “merit pay”?
And maybe you’re unaware but there are definitely monetary performance incentives available for public school teachers. A few examples would be taking responsibility for some kind of leadership role, or making sure a department makes use of its resources and budget to stay well supplied, or a coaching position, coordinating/editing a WASC report, teaching a dual-enrollment course, etc. Teachers famously do many “extra” things for free, but many tasks are compensated for with stipends.
Also, you probably are aware that teacher salaries have regularly planned increases as their years of service increase. So while that’s not at all what you might mean by “merit pay” (again, what does that phrase mean to you and how would it be measured and tied to salary?), it’s generally true that teachers improve their skills with years of practice, so that regularly increasing salary could easily be inferred as a monetary reward for being better at your job. CTA is not against this type of pay increase.