April 25, 2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 25, 2003

Irvine Valley College Names Its Teacher of the Year

Irvine, CAIrvine Valley College announced today that long-time Spanish instructor Beatrice Tseng has been named IVCs Teacher of the Year. She will be recognized for her accomplishment at a District Appreciation Day ceremony on Wednesday, April 30, and will be presented her award during commencement exercises on Friday, May 23.

Tseng is known among her students and the faculty for her intelligence, sensitivity, scholarship, and ability to reach students from many different cultures and backgrounds.

Her success as a teacher is due in part to the cumulative knowledge she has gained of world cultures, and to her ability to impart this knowledge with great insight and care to all her students, said IVC President Glenn Roquemore.

As the daughter of a Taiwanese diplomat, Tseng developed a love of travel and language; she has lived in Europe, the Far East and Central and South America and speaks five languages: Chinese (Mandarin and Taiwanese), English, Portuguese and Spanish. Her love of the Spanish language and Latino culture grew out of having lived in Hispanic countries for nearly 20 years.

I feel very fortunate to have had opportunities to live and travel in many countries. Teaching Spanish is very rewarding. I hope to inspire my students; to expand their knowledge of language, literature and culture. Im honored to have been selected from a field of outstanding professors at Irvine Valley College, said Tseng.

Because she is a Chinese-Latina, Tseng hopes she inspires Asian students to enter the fields of language and literature and teaching.

Tseng graduated with honors from UCLA where she received a BA in Spanish and Portuguese, and an MA in Spanish Literature. She has worked as an international interpreter and translator, and as the tour director for a cultural exchange institute in Spain. She recently was the recipient of a California Virtual Campus grant which allowed her to create and teach an advanced online Spanish course.

Among the reasons she was nominated for the award are the extra curricular activities she has developed to help bring Spanish culture alive for her students. Each semester she conducts informal student conversation groups and field trips see Spanish plays, flamenco dances, concerts and art exhibits. She ends each semester with students eating in a Salvadorean, Cuban or Peruvian restaurant.

Colleges need to be engaging places for students to come and learn, added Roquemore. IVC respects and supports the work that all our teachers do to nurture knowledge and creative enthusiasm in our students. Beatrice Tseng has helped all of us here to create a strong school and community. We are very proud of her.

As IVCs Teacher of the Year, Tsengs name will go forward to the Orange County Department of Education where she will be eligible for recognition by the County of Orange, and she will be qualified for a possible monetary award of up to $15,000. She was nominated by her students.

The Teacher of the Year Banquet and Recognition Ceremony will take place at the Disneyland Hotel on October 30.

Part-time instructor Denise Frye was also named Irvine Valley College Part-Time Instructor of the Year. She teaches Speech Communication and has been a coach on the championship South Orange County Community College Speech and Debate Team. The team is comprised of students from Irvine Valley College and its sister campus, Saddleback College.

Frye was recognized for her ability to cultivate her students learning experiences by teaching and magnifying their ability to complete research, organize thoughts and build arguments.

I want to be able to encourage not only a deeper understanding of communication, but also a deeper understanding of self, said Frye.

Frye obtained both a BA and MA degree from California State University, Fullerton.