The Ventura County Educators' Hall of Fame is pleased to announce the inductees for its Class of 2007.

Javier Gomez retired from the Oxnard School District in 2006, after 33 years of teaching elementary and junior high school youngsters. Gomez, the eldest of 15 children, was born in Durango, Mexico, and immigrated to the US with his family when he was five. He became a US citizen at 18.

Gomez is the founder and artistic director of Teatro Inlakech, the Inlakech Cultural Arts Center, a cultural visual and performing arts educational academy which provides free of charge, after school visual and performing arts educational programs to help individuals discover their artistic potential.

For 13 years, he served as artistic director of the Ballet Folklorico Regional. Gomez is co-founder of Café Inlakech, a third world coffee house, he is also a co-founder of the Annual Statewide California Aztlan Chicano / Latino Theatre Festival, showcasing Chicano and Latino Third World Theatre companies since 1988. He has inspired generations of successful Mariachi musicians, actors and dancers over the past thirty years.

Gomez and his wife, Irene, have created the Gomez Foundation to help secure funds to continue offering free of charge services to both youth and adults.

For his work and dedication, Gomez has received awards from the Association of Mexican American Educators, the Governor of the state of Zacatecas, Mexico, the Consul de Mexico Fernando Gamboa, CSUN La Raza Alumni Association, El Concilio del Condado, Ventura County Diversity Board, Amgens’ Teacher of Excellance Award, KNBC’s Crystal Apple Award, and the City of Oxnard’s Distinguished Citizen Award.

With his broad background of artistic creativity and contributions to youth, Gomez describes himself as an author, poet, Mexican Folklorico dance instructor, historian, educator, stage / film actor, playwright, producer, philanthropist, California Arts Council Artist-in-Residency grant recipient, and loving parent and husband.

He is an exceptional educator who goes beyond the call of duty to listen, assist, and create programs that enrich the lives of both youth and adults.

A lifelong educator, Wilma Turchik may be the only person in Ventura County to have served as principal of three schools at one time. In her long educational career, she also was the principal of nine schools. Turchik’s career spanned over 44 years from 1946 to 1991.

Turchik began her teaching career at Mill School in Ventura in 1948. She went on to become a teaching vice principal, teaching principal, and then full-time principal. At Mill School she was given recognition as a life member of the PTA and as a demonstration teacher for the Ventura County Schools.

While at Hueneme School, her next assignment, Turchik completed her master’s degree in gifted education at the University of Southern California where she also completed some doctoral studies. Besides being honored for several years as a demonstration teacher, she was also the principal for the demonstration program for the county at Hueneme School.

Temporarily leaving education to get married, Turchik resumed her educational career with employment at Barbara Webster School in Santa Paula as a teaching vice principal. This was followed with a two-school assignment two years later. Two years later, she was given a three-school assignment. Turchik was the principal of McKevett school until 1972 when she returned to the classroom because of a change of administration and a cancer operation.

In 1981, she returned to administration of both Portal and Grace Thille schools, taking the additional job of Curriculum Director for the district in 1984. During her last years in the district she served as principal of Grace Thille School, Glen City School, and her last three years at Blanchard School.

Included in the many professional organizations she has been associated with are AAUW, Delta Kappa Gamma, ACEI (Early Childhood Education), Chi Alpha Delta (Honorary Elementary Fraternity), and CSSA & CESSA (Administration Organizations). She was also listed by The Academy of American Educators as an Outstanding Educator in America in their 1973-74 edition.

Wilma and her husband Steve (both retired) live happily in Santa Paula.

Thomas O’Neill was Boston born, Irish Catholic and graduated from Notre Dame. He worshipped and reveled in the prowess of “fighting Irish” football. He was the ultimate leprechaun and looked the part in an oversized persona.

In many ways, O’Neill was Ventura College’s most signifi cant faculty member and had there been such a position he would have been, without doubt “Dean of the Faculty.” O’Neill taught a demanding and ever changing microbiology course throughout his career and as a result was a vital adjunct to the Nursing Program where micro was the most important prerequisite course for Program entry.

Through this course O’Neill took great pride in helping set the standard of excellence the Nursing Program is renowned for. As first faculty member elected to the Ventura College Foundation, O’Neill generously endowed a major nursing scholarship fund ($100,000.00).

O’Neill regularly eschewed administration opportunities for what he believed was “the higher calling of teaching.” O’Neill’s leadership influence, educational values, and engaging charm contributed powerfully to the culture and traditions that have become Ventura College. O’Neill was the “everyman” and in many ways the heart and soul of what has been the best about Ventura College.

• U.S. Navy, Pacific Theater, World War II, Purple Heart recipient
• BA, University of Notre Dame
• PhD, University of California, Davis
• Ventura College Biology Professor, 1955-2000 (longest serving faculty member, 45 years)
• Part-time research microbiologist, Navy Department, Port Hueneme, paralleling teaching career. Discovered oil consuming bacteria usable in oil spill clean-up and means for preserving submerged wood materials.
• Founding Academic Senate President, served two terms
• Chaired all Ventura College accreditation teams during his tenure
• Served yearly on high school and community college visiting accreditation teams for Western Association of Schools and Colleges
• Biological Sciences Department Chair, mid-1970’s to mid-1990’s

Rose Wisuri served as an educational leader in the Moorpark schools across a unique span of time in the community’s history from 1959 to 1990, a period that was characterized by the transition from a small rural town to an incorporated city. During this time, Wisuri’s educational career grew and changed along with the school system which united two union school districts and built seven new schools to match the burgeoning population of the community.

Hired initially to run an Adult Education Preschool program and then to teach kindergarten, Wisuri’s high-energy style and passion for early childhood education led her to become Principal of Flory Elementary in the 1970s. During that time, Flory’s Early Childhood Education Program received statewide recognition as an exemplary program. The school collaborated with university researchers at California State University Sacramento and University of California at Santa Barbara for teacher training and research on bilingual education methodologies for second language learners. The test scores and the prestige of the school system were greatly enhanced under her instructional leadership.

Wisuri took on more responsibilities in the early 1980s. While retaining her position as principal, she also took on the role of District Project Director. She secured categorical grant funds that greatly enriched the learning opportunities for students by providing training for teachers, specialized materials, and additional support personnel. She wrote the District’s fi rst Title I Project, a state Bilingual Education grant and a federal Bilingual Demonstration Project that was funded for five years. The many special programs she secured for Moorpark schools helped move the once poor district to one with funds and enriched learning opportunities for students.

In 1980, Moorpark Union School District with two schools and Moorpark Memorial High School District with one school were unifi ed by a vote of the citizens. Wisuri was part of the leadership team that helped to blend the two entities.

As the population boom hit Moorpark in the mid 1980s and the district built three elementary schools in three years, Wisuri became Assistant Superintendent. Her vision guided the initial development of the school configurations and boundaries that would result in a balance of ethnic groups among all the local schools and the development of a culture that teaches respect for every individual and values the richness of diversity.

Since retiring in 1990, Wisuri has been an active part of the community, volunteering her time with the Camarillo Arts Council, FOOD Share, the Camarillo House and other endeavors.

Marilyn Bjork has been a true teaching legend in the Pleasant Valley School District since she began her 34-year career in the 1970’s at Los Altos Middle School in Camarillo.

In her early years, Bjork was an integral part of Team Instruction, involving three teachers who coordinated curriculum and activities for Social Studies, History, English, and reading for grades 7 and 8.

Bjork is best known throughout the community and other parts of Southern California for guiding and coaching her award-winning students in the Camino Real Speech League. Under her expert tutelage, Los Altos students consistently earned top honors. She has been tireless in developing and promoting students’ talents and abilities in competitive speaking. She also helped launch the Speech program at Moorpark College.

Moreover, Bjork encouraged art, music, song, and dance within the theater arts program. She sponsored school-wide talent shows and provided students with the opportunities to write, speak, act, direct, create sets, handle lighting and sound in her theater classes.

This dynamic teacher was also the school coordinator of the state-funded Los Altos School Improvement Program (SIP) for eight years. In this capacity she worked with administrators, teachers, parents, and students on School Site Councils guiding the various curricular departments to set written goals and objectives beyond the base program. Under SIP, later SBCP (School Based Coordinated Program), she pioneered Career Days which brought 30-40 speakers to the school to share their careers with students. She also developed a “shadowing” opportunity for students in which they followed a worker on a job, a new idea at the time.

With so much talent and expertise, especially in speech, it was obvious to all who worked with her that Bjork would become one of the first district mentors in 1983.

She retained this honor and shared the wealth of knowledge and experience in speech for the next 10 years in the state mentor program.

Under her SIP leadership, Los Altos received the National Distinguished School Award in 1987. Her other numerous awards include: PTA Honorary Service Award in 1981 and 1993; Achievement in Education Award from the Noontime Optimist Club in 1990; Educator of the Month, Camarillo Chamber of Commerce in October 1988; Educator of the Year Award, Camarillo Chamber of Commerce in 1990; Speech Coach of the Year, Moorpark College in 1986; Voice of Democracy Award, Veterans of Foreign Wars in 1991; Teacher of the Year for Los Altos School in 1990 and 1993; and the Amgen Award for Teacher Excellence in 1994. In 2003 Bjork received the PTSA Golden Oak Award, the highest honor the Pleasant Valley PTSA can bestow.

Now retired, Bjork still keeps active in the community. She planned and directed the Pleasant Valley School District Third Grade Speech Tournament in May.

Lynnell Robinson Cunningham Hankins was an inspiration to students, an administrator’s dream and a faculty friend.

A teacher once called Lynnells’ classroom her “natural habitat.” And so it was — a place where her skills flourished and students were inspired by a caring teacher who taught them how to solve problems, stay positive and treat all people with respect.

When diagnosed with cancer, she chose to keep teaching while fighting the disease in the same way she lived; with great dignity, strength, and above all, grace. After a week in ICU, she laboriously propped herself up to finish final marks for her students. She finished the grading before passing just a few weeks later, punctuating the end of her life with the work she loved.

Born in Los Angeles on Jan. 23, 1948 to William and Helena (Bailey) Robinson, the family moved to Somis and she graduated with honors from Camarillo High School in 1966. She went on to Pitzer College, Cal Poly and then UC-Berkeley after marrying David Cunningham, a Ventura attorney. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Math at Berkeley, a master’s in Environmental Studies at Cal State Dominguez Hills and a teaching credential at Cal State Northridge — all while bringing up three children: RaeLee, Ryan and Nicholas.

Settling in Ventura, she was elected president of the American Association of University Women and Kimball Arts Center, and served on the board of The Montessori Learning Center. She applied her skills in writing environmental impact reports, but her passion for teaching became too strong to ignore. It was a perfect fi t – her students voted her Most School Spirit, Most Helpful and Most Inspirational, among others.

Her professional talents won admiration from fellow teachers over her 16 years at Buena. One said she was inspired “by her masterful organization and preparation, her rapport with students and calm atmosphere of the classroom.” She helped organize the math department and was in charge of the final exam schedule. She set up the peer tutoring program and helped create Calculus Camp.

She also volunteered as Buena’s cheerleading adviser, not for the events but to show support for her students.

Hankins spent an adventurous year teaching in Turkey where the locals embraced her as “the running woman” for her daily jogs and where she won the highest praise from the director. She returned to Buena, met and married John Hankins of Santa Barbara and moved to Ojai.

Hankins was also the inspiration for Womenade of Ventura, established after her death to provide direct relief to needy youth.

In her honor, family and friends set up the Lynnell Hankins Memorial Scholarship Fund at Buena. Anyone wishing to carry on that legacy may donate, c/o Buena High School, Attn: Steve Magoon, 5670 Telegraph Ave., Ventura CA 93003.

“Long may you run.”

Ventura County’s home-grown County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. James Cowan, has provided positive leadership and support for education throughout California for more than four decades.

Cowan was raised in Ventura and attended and graduated from schools in what is now the Ventura Unified School District. He served as a teacher and counselor at Ventura High School and as the dean of boys at Buena High School. In 1965, he joined the Ventura County Superintendent of Schools Office as the Director of Secondary Education and was promoted to Assistant Superintendent in 1967. Cowan was elected Ventura County Superintendent of Schools in 1969 and served in this position until his retirement on July 1, 1993, after serving six consecutive four-year terms of office, and 38 years of service in public education.

During his tenure as County Superintendent of Schools, Cowan established one of the fi rst Regional Occupational Programs (ROP) in the State and secured the 20 acres of surplus property at the former Oxnard Air Force Base (now the Camarillo Airport) for the Ventura County Superintendent of Schools Office ROP and Special Education programs, the Community College District, and the Oxnard Union High School District. Cowan oversaw the construction of Gateway, Dwire, Penfi eld, Hendershot (now Phoenix) and Triggs Schools for special education programs. He implemented the Science Fair, Academic Decathlon, Mock Trial and Top Scholars Awards programs. Cowan’s leadership directed the Ventura County Superintendent of Schools Office toward greatness and recognition throughout the state.

As County Superintendent of Schools, Cowan oversaw the unification of the Conejo Valley, Fillmore, Moorpark and Oak Park Unifi ed School Districts and served as Interim Superintendent until a permanent school superintendent could be hired.

Cowan is the only county superintendent in history to serve two terms as President of the California Association of County Superintendents of Schools in 1976 and 1977. He chaired the Cowan Commission which created the 10 service delivery regions in California that exist today. He also established the National Leadership Training Center for Gifted / Talented Education and the first federally funded teacher resource center in the State of California. In addition, Cowan served on a wide variety of local, state, and national commissions and worked very closely with State Superintendent Dr. Wilson Riles to bring extra help and teaching support to under-privileged students in this state.

This respected educator has received numerous local, and statewide awards and recognitions, including being named one of the 100 outstanding alumni in the 100-year history of Whittier College, Tri-Counties CTA Educator of the Year and receiving the ACSA Administrative Excellence Award, to name a few. Upon his retirement, Cowan was selected as the Grand Marshall of the Ventura County Fair and his name was given to the James F. Cowan Conference Center at the Camarillo Airport. He was further honored by the Ventura County Economic Development Association when they established the James F. Cowan Educational Leadership Award which is given annually to an outstanding educational leader in Ventura County.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell was not inducted into the Educators’ Hall of Fame for his teaching prowess, nor his teaching longevity, but for his constant and continued support and leadership of education, both in the legislature and in the California Department of Education.

O’Connell was born in 1951 in Glen Cove, N.Y. In 1958, his family moved to Oxnard, where he attended Curren Elementary, Fremont Middle, and Oxnard High Schools. After earning his secondary teaching credential from CSU, Long Beach, he returned to his high school alma mater to teach government for years. He later served on the Santa Barbara County School Board.

O’Connell was elected to the 35th State Assembly District in 1982 and was re-elected by wide margins thereafter. In 1994, O’Connell was elected to the 18th State Senate District, serving the Ventura and Santa Barbara County areas, and easily won re-election in 1998. In 2002, O’Connell was elected to serve as California’s 26th State Superintendent of Public Instruction, earning more votes than any other contested candidate in the country. He is currently serving his second, and final, term in this office.

As chief of California’s public school system and leader of the California Department of Education, O’Connell has focused on closing the achievement gap and preparing students for a rapidly changing global economy by holding high standards for all students.

Throughout his career, he has worked to improve public education in California. As the author of numerous landmark education bills in both the California Assembly and the State Senate, he made quality education his number one priority. O’Connell has worked to smooth the transitions between all segments of education, from preschool to college or the workplace. As a former high school teacher and author of the legislation creating the California High School Exit Exam, he has led a comprehensive effort to increase rigor and improve student achievement in California high schools. He is a strong supporter and facilitator of partnerships between schools, businesses, communities, and philanthropies in order to engage students with challenging, real-world education experiences.

O’Connell is a proven team builder with the ability to forge consensus on contentious issues, especially where challenges are strongest. He has worked to fortify California’s world-class academic standards, strengthen California’s school accountability and assessment systems and bolster state funding for public school classrooms by reducing the threshold for passage of local school facility bonds.

He also has been a leader among state school chiefs nationwide in an effort to increase flexibility and fairness in the federal No Child Left Behind school accountability system. He is a long-time advocate for smaller class sizes, improved teacher recruitment and retention, comprehensive testing, and up-to-date school facilities. He currently is a member of the CSU Board of Trustees, the UC Board of Regents, and the California Community College Board of Trustees, as well as many other education-related boards and advisory committees. This commitment to the children of California has earned O’Connell the praise and the respect of colleagues and educators statewide.

The youngest of seven children, Elmont Michaelson was born November 4, 1923, in St Charles Idaho. Following his high school graduation, he entered the U.S. Army in 1943, serving with the 71st Infantry in the European Theater of Operations until his discharge in 1946. He then enrolled at Utah State University and received his B.S. in 1950. He was recalled to into the Air Force in 1951, serving as a Special Forces Officer at Travis Air Force Base.

In 1952, Elmont married Pat. They are the parents of two boys and two girls, and now have 12 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

After his discharge from the Air Force, Michaelson began his career in Education at Oxnard High School where he remained until 1965. During those years he taught Military Science and was Commandant of Cadets. He then moved into administration, as Attendance and Welfare Officer, Boys’ Vice-Principal, and Director of Athletics. In 1965, he opened Rio Mesa High School as its first Principal, a position he held until his retirement in 1984. During his tenure there, the school grew from 642 students to more than 1800.

As the educational leader of Rio Mesa, Michaelson set a tone and established a philosophy for all who came to the school – faculty, parents and students. He inspired and led the Rio Mesa community to promote and maintain high expectations in academics, personal achievement, and athletics. Rio Mesa blossomed into more than a school – it became a way of life centered on its students and the desire to ensure the fulfillment of each individual’s potential. Much like the fertile crops surrounding it, Rio Mesa flourished under his dedicated leadership. Rio Mesa received California State School Board Association recognition for several of its programs and was nominated as a California Distinguished School.

Individually, Michaelson was twice recognized as the Outstanding Secondary School Administrator by the local chapter of the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA), and he was also lauded for his work in the areas of Special Education and Youth Leadership. The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) and the Rio Elementary School District commended his contributions to education as well. The staff and students at Rio Mesa regarded him so highly that they named the school’s athletic stadium Elmont Michaelson Stadium in his honor.

Under his direction, Rio Mesa became a unique school, which included not only an ethnically diverse student body, but also distinctive programs for the hearing impaired, physically handicapped, and educationally challenged. His goal as an educator was to make each student feel a part of the Rio Mesa family.

Even in retirement, Mont (as he is known to those close to him) has remained active in the Retired Teachers’ Association, twice serving as its President.

Michaelson has dedicated and lived his life for education in the fi nest sense. His life represents the best and most worthwhile qualities of a man, an educator, and administrator.

Barbara Wagner is a long-time, well-respected career educator who has been an active contributing member of the community, and whose efforts, energy, and expertise have positively affected the lives of thousands of children.

Her experience in public education is extensive, with both site and district experience. She enjoyed her time as a teacher, principal, and assistant superintendent.

Wagner served as the Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services for the Pleasant Valley School District, and as an educational consultant for ETS / Pulliam, working with underperforming districts and has served the county in numerous communities. In addition, she has been an adjunct professor for the California State University System and California Lutheran College.

She has extensive experience in district organizational practice, designing instructional programs, and working with communities to bring about positive change. In the Pleasant Valley School District, she led teams of community members, teachers and administrators in developing the Parents’ Institute, Summer Academy of Learning, Gifted and Talented Symposium, Middle School Development, Strategies for Teaching and Learning, the development of a district-wide curriculum, the Data Book, as well as the city-wide summit “Goals 2000” that designed the district’s first set of instructional standards. Her work with the Secondary Learning Committee involved participants throughout the county as a visioning process for the future of the district. She has presented at a number of state conferences including the California School Board’s Association and the Association of California Administrators.

Wagner’s work in the community includes the following organizations: Neighborhoods for Learning, The University Preparation Charter School, Pleasant Valley Education Foundation, Camarillo Chamber of Commerce Education Committee, Camarillo Arts Council, Ventura County Community Foundation and recently the “Next Chapter” Camarillo Library Education Steering Committee. She was recognized as Camarillo’s Woman of the Year in 1999. She received the Golden Oak PTA Service Award in 2005, as well as ACSA’s South Ventura Charter Outstanding Curriculum Administrator in 1998.