Schools
Los Gatos Blossom Hill Elementary School's Liz Nast Is 'Teacher of the Year'
Special education teacher is among 31 educators at county level recognized for their efforts to help young people learn and succeed in academics.
Editor's note: The following article was written by San Jose State University journalism student Ryan Craighead as part of a class assignment. He welcomes your thoughts and feedback in the comments.
Blossom Hill Elementary School teacher Liz Nast was honored at the 44th annual Santa Clara County Office of Education teacher recognition celebration Sept. 26 at the Campbell Heritage Theatre with the Teacher of the Year Award.
Nast is a special education instructor. She credits her determination to maintain a positive attitude with helping her while undergoing cancer treatments last year.
She said the staff at Blossom Hill School is hardworking and any of the other teachers at the campus were deserving of the award.
Nast was thankful to the parents that submitted letters attached to the nomination application for the award.
“I’m honored and overwhelmed,” Nast said. “The attention is exciting. Lots of attention.”
We thank Nast for participating in this short Q&A profile.
Los Gatos Patch: Why did you go into teaching?
Nast: I come from a long line of teachers. Everyone of my female cousins, my father, grandmother and aunt are/were teachers. My daughter is now student teacher. I think it is just in our blood. I wanted to be a teacher since I was 8 year old.
Patch: Where did you graduate?
Nast: I graduated from Cal Poly State University.
Patch: How long have you been with the Los Gatos Union School District?
Nast: I am on my 22nd year in LGUSD. All the years have been at Blossom Hill Elementary School.
Patch: What's your favorite part about being a teacher?
Nast: My very favorite part about teaching is being around the children. They make me happy!
Patch: What year and where did you begin your teaching career?
Nast: I started teaching in 1987 in Fremont as a special education teacher at American High. I then moved to Green Elementary School where I taught for three years before moving to Los Gatos.
Patch: Where do you live, what are your hobbies?
Nast: I live in Saratoga. I love to run and have been running daily since I was 14 years old. I run for an hour before school each morning with a group of friends. I also love spending time with my husband, and two children, Katie and Ryan.
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