Fullerton College geography professor Aline Gregorio received the 2020 Orange County Teacher of the Year award from the Orange County Department of Education Wednesday, May 1.
A former Hornet and currently a full-time geography professor at Fullerton College, Gregorio was born and raised in Brazil and came to the U.S. when she was 16-years-old.
Gregorio attended FC in 2005 and got an associate’s degree in liberal arts, for her interest to how relevant geography is to the contemporary world.
She then transferred to Cal State Fullerton and completed her B.A. in geography in 2008, as well as her M.A. in geography in 2011. Gregorio has been teaching at Fullerton since 2016.
Professor Gregorio started class with an exam unaware she was about to have a surprise visit from dozens of faculty members, including FC President Dr. Greg Schulz and the Orange County Superintendent of Schools Al Mijares, Ph.D.
“At Fullerton College we’re blessed to have teachers such as Professor Gregorio. It’s teachers like her that make our school unique. I’m very proud with the impact she has made with each one of her students,” said Schulz.
Mijares gave a short speech as he presented the award to Gregorio. Gregorio humbly accepted the award and thanked everyone as she was overwhelmed with joy.
“For me I achieve everything I strive for. With my background at times is can be hard to stop and celebrate for myself. I never pause to recognize personal achievements, I have to be convinced so I can stop tell myself that this is one of those moments,” said Gregorio.
Gregorio also received Fullerton College’s 2019 Teacher of the Year award. Her goal in all her classes is to expose her students to core geographical principles so they earn something they will find meaningful. She always like to bring in perspective for her students, being that she grew up in another county.
“I’ve never experienced a class with her teaching style. The way she organizes group assignments and note taking is perfect, other teachers should take notes if they want to be like her,” said Reymond Arellano a FC student.
Each community college is only able to nominate one professor each year. Some of the requirements involved is the professor needs to have at least eight years of teaching prior to nomination, can not have been previously nominated for Teacher of the Year, and assigned to teach the following school year.
“Professor Gregorio is really passionate about her job. She always comes to class excited to teach everyday and makes learning interesting,” said Kaitlyn Galvez a liberal arts major.
Gregorio was chosen as one of the six top teachers in Orange County out of 64 educators nominated for this year’s award by the county’s school districts. She will join other honorees at a banquet at the Disneyland Hotel in November and compete for California Teachers of the Year.