On Wednesday May 21, students and teachers crowded together in the amphitheater to award the Teacher of the Year and the Classified Staff Member of the Year. Math teacher Amir Ghavam was awarded the Teacher of the Year award, much to the joy of the crowd, while custodian Roberto Jacome happily accepted the “Classified Employee of the year award.”

Jacome said that he was very happy that so many students remembered him and had honored him with this award. Jacome said that he believes he won the award because he is so social with the students and that he knows the names of many students, as they know his. “The most beautiful words in the world is someone’s name,” Jacome said. “Knowing these kids leaves me a good memory of this school.”

Ghavam also said that he believes he won due to communication with students. Ghavam said that he believes he was awarded the “Teacher of the Year” award due to his approachability. “I take more pride in my communication skills with students than my math skills; I want to have a mutual understanding with my students so that they know that, if they succeed, it’s a win-win for both of us,” Ghavam said.

Ghavam also said that he enjoys his opportunity of working at Clark Magnet and that he has fun with his job so that it doesn’t seem like work. “When I win this award, I feel like I’ve won it on behalf of all of the teachers here rather than in spite of them; there’s a lot of cooperation and I’m honored to work with.”