October 5, 2020
Re: World Teachers' Day
To: All campus
Oct. 5, 2020
Dear Campus Community,
More than 50 years ago, the United Nations declared education “a fundamental human right.” World Teachers’ Day — today, Oct. 5 — celebrates those whose vocation is to advance knowledge and understanding.
Here in the Central Valley, thousands of teachers do the outstanding and often underappreciated work of sharing with young people the joy of learning and the wonder of discovery. In Merced County and elsewhere, these dedicated individuals lay the foundation for success, not simply for individual pupils but for their families and for our country.
Many UC Merced alumni are shining exemplars of this dedication, such as Berenice Cervantes-Perez (’16), who teaches math at Sierra High School in Manteca, Juan Castro-Santana (’17), a sixth- and seventh-grade teacher in the Snelling-Merced Falls Elementary School, and Claudia Ramirez Vargas (’18), who teaches third grade in Chowchilla — all credentialed through our Teacher Preparation Program.
Our CalTeach program helps to prepare the next generation of STEM educators, and of course, our own faculty model both the practices and the commitment that mark teaching for the noble calling that it is.
UC Merced joins today’s global celebration of teachers and applauds all they do every day, often in underfunded schools and — particularly during this pandemic — under extraordinary circumstances, to build the future one young mind at a time.
Juan Sánchez Muñoz, Ph.D.
Chancellor
Remarks and Addresses
Academic Year:
