[Noozhawk’s note: One in a series on the teachers who will be honored Nov. 2 at A Salute to Teachers, presented by Cox Communications and the Santa Barbara County Education Office.]
Eight public school educators will be recognized Nov. 2 at the 11th annual Salute to Teachers, an event hosted by Cox Communications and the Santa Barbara County Education Office at the Music Academy in Montecito.
Laura Branch — a Righetti High School science teacher in the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District — is the 2025 Santa Barbara County Teacher of the Year.
Rich Lashua, a performing arts and theater teacher at Santa Barbara Junior High School in the Santa Barbara Unified School District, will be recognized as the 2025 Santa Barbara Bowl Performing Arts Teacher of the Year.
The 2025 distinguished mentors to be recognized are kindergarten teacher Socorro Chávez of Isla Vista School in the Goleta Union School District, first-grade teacher Eugenia Pappas of Santa Ynez Valley Charter School in the College School District, and English language arts and concurrent enrollment instructor Jordan Willis of Orcutt Academy High School in the Orcutt Union School District.
The 2025 distinguished new educators to be honored are Ryan Blasena, an extensive support needs special education teacher at Hope School in the Hope Elementary School District; Noe Gomez, a dual-enrollment chemistry teacher at Carpinteria High School in the Carpinteria Unified School District; and Oscar Velasco, an ethnic and gender studies teacher at Santa Maria High School in the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District.
In addition to Cox, Salute to Teachers is sponsored by Noozhawk, Fielding Graduate University, Melfred Borzall, Rusty’s Pizza and the Santa Barbara Bowl.
Noozhawk Q&A
Noozhawk: Why did you decide to become a teacher?
Noe Gomez: I became a teacher under unusual circumstances. I was taking a break from graduate school when a Career and Technical Education teaching opportunity opened up in the summer of 2018, at my alma mater, Carpinteria High School.
I needed a job and health insurance and, due to my research experience as an agricultural biochemist, I qualified for a CTE credential.
Long story short, I am a second-career teacher with science research having been my first profession.
Teaching happened by chance, and I’ve enjoyed every moment since; I went back to school online and completed an official single-subject teaching credential during 2023.
Noozhawk: How long have you been teaching?
NG: During graduate school, I was a lecture and laboratory instructor for courses ranging from nutritional biology to reproductive physiology.
Since then, I have also completed six years teaching high school. So, I’m at about my ninth year of teaching science now.
Noozhawk: What is your favorite subject or lesson plan to teach your students?
NG: I am trained as a biologist; the subject comes naturally to me. However, I’ve come to learn that I enjoy teaching chemistry a lot more. In fact, I teach chemistry all day now.
Chemistry didn’t come naturally to me, and I received a lot of help from professors and tutors in college to navigate through the 10-plus chemistry courses I had to take as part of my science degrees.
I feel profound patience in teaching this subject to students. I feel prepared to re-teach, provide extensions, and offer different perspectives to my chemistry students on a daily basis.
Because I struggled with chemistry as a student, that’s why I feel so passionate about teaching it and helping students find applications through it.
Noozhawk: What is your favorite part of being a teacher?
NG: The longer I teach, the greater my pool of graduates who now study disciplines in college, such as animal science, biochemistry, biology, chemistry, engineering, food science, molecular biology, physiology, and the list goes on.
On a monthly basis I have students update me of their accomplishments and endeavors. It brings me great joy to see how the topics students have learned in my classes propel them to higher pursuits and successes.
Noozhawk: What are the challenges of your job?
NG: Teaching is extremely rewarding. It involves working with many different students every day, and all of whom bring such beautiful stories, cultures and goals.
Interacting with more than 150 students on a daily basis requires great stamina.
Recently I had a conversation with an administrator explaining how I love interacting with students every day, but that I feel bad when I am spread thinly; sometimes the needs of one student mean that I have to focus my attention on them, and that may mean not wholly being able to give my entire attention to another student.
Noozhawk: What are you most looking forward to this school year?
NG: This year I am offering 36 students at my school Santa Barbara City College CHEM 101. Upon successful completion of the course in June, students will immediately earn college credits.
This coincides with more than six other courses at Carpinteria High that students could enroll in to earn college credit.
Seeing students graduate high school with so many credits under their belt for free is amazing and I feel privileged to be a part of it!
Noozhawk: Who are your mentors?
NG: I have a long list of mentors; if I were to produce one, I’d probably leave someone out, so I won’t.
I will say, though, being able to teach at my alma mater is extra special because some of the colleagues I work with were once my teachers, which makes them extra-special mentors of mine.
Noozhawk: Who are the people in your life and work environment who support you every day?
NG: My love, Kathy; my parents; my brother; and my grandparents — Gloria, Aurelio, Lupe, Eduardo and Paul — are my continual sources of inspiration.
Noozhawk: What is your favorite quote?
NG: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.” — Marianne Williamson
Noozhawk: How does it feel to be honored as part of A Salute to Teachers?
NG: I am thrilled to be honored this year for the Salute to Teachers celebration. I would especially like to congratulate my fellow awardees. I look forward to meeting everyone at the event in November.
