The National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) has selected Sonia Aguila (TEP, MST, M.Ed., ’98) as its Teacher of the Year. Aguila teaches second grade dual-language immersion (DLI) at the Canalino Elementary School in the Carpinteria Unified School District (CUSD).

The award recognized Aguila’s talents as an advocate for bilingual students and their families, and as an outstanding instructor for her students for 25 years at Canalino School.

“Sonia has been an outstanding leader, especially in the inception of the DLI program in CUSD, serving on the leadership team from the very start, writing the Plan Maestro for our program,” says Canalino Principal Jamie Persoon. “Sonia also often facilitates English Language Acquisition meetings, supports culturally relevant instruction and events for students and families.”

Aguila has also been the host, director, and producer of the Spanish Children’s Radio Program on 107.7 FM for 25 years and writes columns for the Education section of the Santa Barbara Latino newspaper.

NABE(link is external) is the only national professional organization devoted to representing bilingual/multilingual students and bilingual and dual language education professionals. NABE has 20 state/regional affiliates and four international affiliates, which collectively represent more than 5,000 members. Members include bilingual and English learner teachers, parents, paraprofessionals, administrators, professors, advocates, researchers, and policy makers.

Aguila will be representing all bilingual educators across the country when she attends the annual NABE conference Feb. 21-23 in Portland, Oregon.