Superintendent kicks off interviews with 2023 Teacher of the Year Jessica Kerber
This fall, Alameda Unified School District has launched a new series of interviews featuring Superintendent Scuderi and AUSD teachers and staff. The interviews are meant to spotlight the high-quality instruction in our classrooms and to help the community understand the goals of our 2023 Strategic Plan.
For our first interview, Superintendent Scuderi interviewed AUSD’s 2023 Teacher of the Year, Jessica Kerber. Ms. Kerber has taught English at Encinal Jr. & Sr. High School since 2005. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from UC Berkeley and her teaching credential through Project Pipeline.
During the interview, she and Superintendent Scuderi discussed the relationship between student engagement and achievement, choosing texts that are relevant to students, and how they both stay motivated and inspired despite the many challenges present in public education. Watch the video.
In addition to being AUSD’s Teacher of the Year, Jessica Kerber was named Alameda County Teacher of the Year by the Alameda County Office of Education. We are thrilled for her and for us, as in addition to being a very compelling classroom teacher, Ms. Kerber is committed to collaborating with and providing professional development to her colleagues. She now has the opportunity to compete to be the California Teacher of the Year.
We also want to be sure that our wider community knows that in response to community questions about the district’s financial decisions and practices, AUSD has published a “Family-Friendly Guide to the AUSD Budget.”
The budget guide—available as a “flip” or digital booklet on our website—provides general information on the annual budget approval cycle for school districts, as well as their various types of revenues and expenditures. It also includes specific information on AUSD’s budget for 2023-24.
“School district budgets are notoriously complex and subject to many variable factors, including state funding decisions, local enrollment, and the availability of grants and other one-time funding sources,” Superintendent Scuderi explains. “Our hope is that this guide will help our entire community understand not only the complexity of the budget but also how we identify priorities and make funding decisions.”
Susan Davis is the Senior Manager of Community Affairs for the Alameda Unified School District. Reach her at [email protected].
