Riverside County's 2022 Educators of the Year: 3 Coachella Valley school employees honored
Three of the county's seven 2022 educators of the year hail from the Coachella Valley.
Riverside County Superintendent of Schools Edwin Gomez congratulated each of them on Friday with surprise visits to their schools.
The awardees are:
Dan Cappello (Desert Sands Unified), classified administrator of the year
Ioana Robles (Palm Springs Unified), site support employee of the year
Damon Bonelli (Bella Vista Elementary, Palm Springs Unified), counselor of the year
The educator of the year awards are for school-support professionals, and they are separate from teacher of the year.
Cielo Vista Charter (Palm Springs) teacher Nichi Aviña was named a Riverside County Teacher of the Year last May and one of five California Teachers of the Year last fall.
There are 23 school districts in the county, so it is noteworthy that Palm Springs Unified has produced a state teacher of the year and two county educators of the year in less than 12 months.
Riverside County teachers and educators of the year will be formally honored at the Celebrating Educators Luncheon on May 6 in Riverside.
Dan Cappello, Desert Sands Unified, classified employee of the year
Dan Cappello is the director of nutrition services for Desert Sands Unified. He is responsible for serving about 20,000 meals per day to students. As pandemic-induced problems pinched the school nutrition supply chain nationwide, Cappello spearheaded an innovative farm-to-school cafeteria program with east valley farmers, navigating lots of red tape to find a smart, local solution to tackle food waste, transportation costs and school nutrition needs.
"It's a creative way to distribute food throughout the valley, and, by the way, help keep our families employed," said Desert Sands Superintendent Scott Bailey.
In addition, Cappello led an effort to expand free lunch for students, and he has helped to reduce student lunch debt by over $100,000.
Cappello has used his connections with area farmers to create pop-up farmers markets at schools that provide students with free, locally grown fruits and vegetables.
He also supervises one John Glenn Middle School student's community service project, which has helped the La Quinta school salvage one ton of food waste this year.
About 50 employees surprised Cappello on Friday at the Desert Sands district office.
"Dan has developed into an icon," Bailey said.
Trustee Linda Porras added, "He is a kind and loving person and an amazing man."
Cappello dedicated the award to his entire nutrition services team. "It's an award for all of us and not me."
Ioana Pirvu Robles, Palm Springs Unified, site support employee of the year
Ioana Robles is a secondary math teacher on special assignment for Palm Springs Unified, but one of her peers compared her to a rockstar.
Robles supports math teachers, and she tutors middle and high school students who are at risk of failing math and who, she said, have often internalized that they are destined to be bad at the subject.
"Math has such controversy," Robles said. "We look at the destination, and don't look at the process. Students give up easily when we don't look at the process."
Robles teaches that while every problem has a solution, there are multiple ways of arriving there.
She does this by bringing non-math concepts into the classroom.
"Ioana approaches math with a holistic, whole-child approach and social-emotional learning," said Superintendent Mike Swize.
By highlighting diversity and emotional learning, Robles tries to convey to students that there is no cookie-cutter process, and everyone should feel comfortable approaching math — and life — uniquely.
Swize commended Robles' approach to melding academic and emotional learning as well as supporting the district's anti-racism coalition.
Deanna Keuilian, director of secondary curriculum and instruction, said, "Ioana truly believes all students deserve quality learning opportunities preparing them for their futures.”
Damon Bonelli, Bella Vista Elementary, Palm Springs Unified, school counselor of the year
Damon Bonelli is a Renaissance man. He is a member of the American School Counseling Association, a contributing writer to the American School Counseling magazine about adolescent substance abuse, a graduate student intern supervisor, a rock climber and a member of the search and rescue team for Joshua Tree National Park.
On top of all that, Bonelli is now the 2022 Riverside County School counselor of the year.
“Damon is a dedicated counselor that continuously goes above and beyond," said Bella Vista Principal Lisa Arseo. "Damon is dedicated to building resilient, self-aware students that have an arsenal of tools to support individual growth and self-esteem. He does not hesitate to look for additional resources to support our students and their families.”
The pandemic has forced students to deal with the loss of parents, friends and family members. Bonelli has arranged for elementary school-appropriate grief groups that teach youngsters how to use tools like mindfulness, breathing and self-affirmation in the most challenging situations.
When schools were physically closed, he partnered with the attendance office to conduct home visits to encourage students to attend online classes.
"When a student chooses to drop out, they are not making an academic decision, they are making an emotional decision," Bonelli wrote in his application. "Mental health and social-emotional learning are critical for our students to succeed today."
Jonathan Horwitz covers education for The Desert Sun. Reach him at jonathan.horwitz@desertsun.com or @Writes_Jonathan.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Riverside County 2022 Educators of the Year: 3 valley workers honored
