Two teachers receive prestigious award

After years of dedication to the school, English teacher Natasha Ritchie and PE teacher Peter Jordan, who is now working as an instructional coach for new teachers in the district, have won the Goldin Foundation Award for Excellence in Education. This annual award is only given to six educators in the Silicon Valley. 

Recipients had to be nominated for the award. Jordan was nominated by former principal Jeff Anderson, and Ritchie was nominated by history teacher Matt Torrens.

An awards ceremony will be held on May 1 in the SHS library for all six of the recipients.

Ritchie, who is the English department chair this year and has taught at the school for seven years, said receiving the award was a “reassurance that all the work and time [she] puts in [paid] off.” 

Her students said that Ritchie’s enthusiasm for her subject encourages them to put more effort into their work. 

“[Ritchie’s] passion and motivation for what she does definitely transfers onto her students,” junior Maggie Sun said. “It motivates you to work hard and always do your best in her class.”

Both Ritchie and Jordan said that their awards were the result of a team effort.

“I think [Saratoga High] sets its teachers up for success, so I really feel like it’s not just me winning, but sort of a team win,” said Ritchie.

Jordan, who has been working at the school for 13 years, and achieved the award for his involvement in  restructuring the PE program away from traditional sports PE and into a fitness program, said that the program was successful due to a combined effort, including teachers Yuko Aoki, Rick Ellis, Tim Lugo and Kerri Slover.

“To give the award to one individual doesn’t seem fair,” Jordan said.

Jordan was inspired to teach because of his younger sister,  who has a severe cognitive impairment.

“She learned things very slowly, and I spent a lot of time as a child teaching her,” he explained. “I’m sure that influenced my choice of a career in education.”

Ritchie also discovered her passion for teaching when she became a teaching assistant for a course at UC Santa Cruz.

“That’s when I really realized that while I loved studying various content: politics, legal studies and literature, [and] that really I was the happiest when I was talking about it and teaching it,” she said.

Both Ritchie and Jordan feel that all their hard work and passion for teaching has paid off.

“I love being a lifelong learner,” Ritchie said. “I’m always learning something new so I’m just appreciative [and] honored.