​District and County Teachers of the Year were honored on the field at Petco Park on May 20, part of the eighth annual San Diego Padres Teacher Appreciation Night.

“It’s great to see outstanding teachers get this kind of high-profile recognition,” said County Superintendent of Schools Randy Ward. “It’s important to remind our community of the invaluable work our teachers perform, and that the Teachers of the Year represent nearly 26,000 public school teachers in San Diego County.”

As part of the festivities, 43 newly named District Teachers of the Year from throughout the county lined the first and third basepaths before the May 20 game. The on-field festivities were sponsored by Ashford University, which is also the new Title Sponsor for Cox Presents A Salute to Teachers, scheduled for September 20 at Balboa Theatre.

As the teachers waved and smiled to friends, families and colleagues in the stands at Teacher Appreciation Night, the public address announcer said, “On the field before you are the newly named School District Teachers of the Year, from all 42 school districts in San Diego County. They represent teachers from San Ysidro to Oceanside, from Mission Beach and Solana Beach to Borrego Springs, and they are the official candidates for the honor of San Diego County Teacher of the Year.

“There is no profession more important to our communities, to our freedoms and traditions as American than teaching,” the announcer continued. “Thank you for helping the Padres honor our teachers tonight.”

Moments later, the five reigning San Diego County Teachers of the simultaneously threw five ceremonial first pitches to Padres personnel. The County Teacher of the Year, whose reign will conclude September 20 when their successors are named at the annual Cox Presents A Salute to Teachers, are: Andee Aceves of the Lemon Grove School District, Tammy Reina of the Juvenile Court and Community Schools, Chris Stanley of the Santee School District, Vicki Pilling of the Solana Beach School District, and Freddie Chavarria of the Oceanside Unified School District.

In addition to the Teachers of the Year Mar Vista High vocal and performing arts teacher Tokeli Mushovic drew strong applause for her outstanding rendition of the National Anthem.

The Padres were pleased with the teacher promotion. “We’re proud to honor our teachers,” said Padres Vice President of Community Relations Michele Anderson. “Education is a cornerstone of our overall community relations effort, and Teacher Appreciation Night gets more popular each year.”