Mayra Arellano exemplifies hard work, collaboration, and student-centered service.  Across the county, Cañada is well represented by her detailed knowledge, enthusiasm, and smiling face.  Despite a full calendar of outreach events, she is always willing to step up to attend an event where potential Cañada students may be or to support events on campus. She pursues collaboration with any organization where a shared effort will better serve our students. As a Manager, she has trained an amazing group of student ambassadors, who proudly represent her and this school, providing warmth and information about Cañada wherever they go. She provides these students with opportunities for growth, gives them thoughtful and timely feedback and grows them as leaders on our campus.

Kiran Malavade has been an integral part of the English department for many years and has always been a fantastic and caring educator and contributor to the well-being of the department. Most recently, her efforts to help figure out how to best serve student needs in the aftermath of AB705, her consistent, proactive, and unpaid participation in department meetings and decision-making processes, and her general generosity with her time and resources have set her apart.

As a faculty member David is amazing in that he is not only a brilliant scholar but also an outstanding professor in a subject area that is notoriously difficult. Those who served on his hiring committee witnessed his ability to develop philosophy lessons that were entirely approachable without lowering his standards. His tenure committee continues to comment on this, and his students do as well. Generally speaking, most people find philosophy interesting but avoid philosophy courses because of their difficulty; after speaking to students about his classes we have found that is not the case with David. He is quite simply a master in terms of creating ways for students to understand difficult subject matter.