Alumnus of The Gevirtz School Named Goleta's Teacher of the Year

Brent Elder, a Special Education teacher at Kellogg Elementary School, will receive Goleta’s Teacher of the Year Award. Elder, a graduate of the UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School, works in an Autism Special Day Class. “This award is a great honor to the collective efforts our education team has put into the students in Goleta,” Elder says. “This recognition speaks volumes for the district’s desire to include all students regardless of their abilities. I am honored and proud to teach in Goleta.”

Elder graduated from the Teacher Education Program at the Gevirtz School in 2004 with an emphasis in special education (a Preliminary Level I Education Specialist: Moderate/Severe Credential). At the Kellogg School he works collaboratively with the Koegel Autism Center to transition children with autism from his class into general education classrooms and create programs for students to interact with their typically developing peers on the playground.

Born in Hemet, CA, Elder attended UC Santa Barbara as an undergraduate, earning degrees in psychology and art history in 2002. He worked in the Devereux education department where his boss approached him about getting a teaching credential/masters with their financial support. Although he began classes in the moderate/severe credential program at CSUN extension at CSU Channel Islands, he transferred to UCSB’s Teacher Education Program in June 2003. Currently in addition to his teaching position in Goleta, Elder is enrolled in the Level 2 moderate/severe program at CSUN under the direction of Dr. June Downing.

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