Outstanding Teacher of the Year

Omar Barbarena

Omar Barbarena

Math/Chemistry Teacher Bassett High School Bassett Unified School District La Puente, California

Omar was born in Nicaragua during the Nicaragua Civil War. His parents sent him to America to live with family at the age of 14 and before he would have been drafted into the Nicaragua army. After attending intercity schools in Los Angles, where he excelled in Mathematics, Omar attended and earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Chemistry from Pomona College. He went on to earn his Master of Arts in Education from Claremont Graduate School, along with his Secondary Teaching Credential with an emphasis in Mathematics.

Omar began his career in education at Bassett High School, where he has been teaching Geometry, Algebra, Chemistry and AP Chemistry for 17 years. Omar has also worked as a Summer Site Coordinator for the Harvey Mudd College, University of California, San Diego and Georgetown University Upward Bound Programs where he teaches Calculus, Trigonometry and Chemistry.

Omar was selected by Rockefeller University in New York City as a Science Teacher Outreach Participant to conduct bio-behavioral research designed to learn and implement inquiry based learning experiences to improve classroom instruction. Omar is a co-author of a research paper on Toxicology Research and received the Who’s Who Among American Teacher Award. He has been selected three times as Bassett High School’s most inspirational teacher and received the Bassett High School and Bassett Unified School District’s Teacher of the Year Award two times.

-Published 2015

Carlston Family Foundation is now Above & Beyond Teaching

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