Eureka (May 9, 2025) — The Humboldt County Office of Education (HCOE) hosted its annual celebration honoring California’s Day of the Teacher by recognizing outstanding educators with Excellence in Teaching Awards. This year’s ceremony, held at the Sequoia Conference Center in Eureka, recognized 14 teachers for their exceptional work in the classroom. With a combined 284 years of teaching experience, these educators were joined by over 200 colleagues, friends, and family members to celebrate their achievements.
The Excellence in Teaching Awards program has been a staple of HCOE since 1986. The awards recognize teachers from Transitional Kindergarten through 12th grade who have been identified as exemplary by their coworkers, parents, or students and have a minimum of five years teaching experience.
This year’s honorees were Pamela Brittenburg-Anderson, Alice Birney Elementary; Alyssa Kell, Arcata High School; Susan Clark-Luera, Arcata High School; Andrea Yip, Cutten Elementary School; Garett Montana , Eureka High School; Jeff Michael, Ferndale High School; Kylah Rush, Freshwater Elementary School; Tiffany Bullman, McKinleyville High School; Roger Culps, McKinleyville Middle School; Carrie Kelly, Morris Elementary School; Andrew DeHart, Washington; Alyssa Biesecker, Winship Middle School; and Kenneth Weiderman, Zane Middle School.
“This celebration has grown into one of the most heartfelt and joyful events in Humboldt County education. We’re here to celebrate those who show up, day after day, with creativity, compassion, and a refusal to let copier jams ruin their spirit. Our Excellence in Teaching honorees are those remarkable educators who make classrooms places of possibility, and our Jean Olson Career Achievement recipient has given decades of her life to lifting up students, colleagues, and communities,” said Humboldt County Superintendent of Schools Michael Davies-Hughes.
In addition to the Excellence in Teaching Awards, the event also recognized the Jean Olson Career Achievement Award recipients. Melanie Susavilla of Northern Humboldt Union High School District was honored for her lifelong contributions to public education, children, and the community. The Jean Olson Career Achievement Award is named in memory of Jean Olson, a long-time County Board of Education member and President who passed away in 1998. Jean’s husband, Larry Olson, expressed his gratitude to these fine educators.
Joe Kencke, the 2024-2025 Humboldt County Teacher of the Year from Cutten Elementary School, addressed the audience, inspiring all in attendance. He noted that the 2025-2026 Humboldt County Teacher of the Year will be selected from among the Excellence in Teaching Award recipients.
The event was made even more special with the Fortuna High School Culinary Arts program creating appetizers and Arcata High School’s musicians welcoming attendees with their musical ensemble, under the guidance of Stacy Chatfield and Cassie Moulton-Rizzo, respectively. Kara Forbes, Eureka High Ag Floral Classes created the bouquets for the tables and Ian Hall’s CTE Students created the engraved wooden cutting board awards.
All the teachers expressed their gratitude for the honor and acknowledged the importance of having the support of their families and colleagues. They also recognized that there are many excellent educators throughout Humboldt County and felt proud to be recognized among them. Visit hcoe.org/awards for more information about our teacher recognition programs.
CONTACT: Stacy Young, Director of Community Outreach and Engagement outreach@hcoe.org 707-445-7024