San Bernardino City Unified School District’s (SBCUSD’s) Keith Brockie is the California League of Schools (CLS) State High School Educator of the Year for 2022.
Brockie is a classroom art teacher, a demonstration teacher, a teacher induction coach, and the Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) department chair at Arroyo Valley High School, and that’s just a taste of what he does. Brockie also teaches at California State University, San Bernardino, is a frequent presenter at the SBCUSD New Teacher Academy, and created an entire website just to showcase student artwork during the pandemic.
Brockie outshone experienced educators from 11 other regions in California to earn this important recognition. Nominees may be teachers, administrators, counselors, or other certificated personnel.
Prior to that, Brockie had been selected from among 11 of the top educators in CLS Region 10, which includes Inyo, Mono, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties, as the Region 10 High School Educator of the Year.
Even before earning the prestigious regional and State Educator of the Year award, Brockie was a mentor to other teachers. In his position as a demonstration art teacher at Arroyo Valley High, Brockie was someone other educators across SBCUSD could look to for guidance and inspiration.
“Keith has been an exceptional educator in our District for 25 plus years and has done so much for his students before, during, and after distance learning,” said SBCUSD Demonstration Teacher Program Lead Morgan Pellettera.
During his speech at the CLS Conference, Brockie spoke not about what he taught his students during his more than 25-year teaching career, but what his students have taught him.
“Very early on in my career, my students began to impress on me something that would be life-changing. They began to teach me how important it was to meet them where they are and not to expect them to see the world the way I did,” Brockie said in his speech. He added, “I soon realized that this gift of perspective was the gateway to compassion, to understanding diversity, empathy, and acceptance. These lessons would serve me well for decades to come.”
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