[Noozhawk’s note: One in a series on the teachers who will be honored Oct. 25 at A Salute to Teachers, presented by Cox Communications and the Santa Barbara County Education Office.]
Eight public school educators will be recognized Oct. 25 at the 12th annual Salute to Teachers, an event hosted by Cox Communications and the Santa Barbara County Education Office at the Music Academy of the West in Montecito.
Natalie Wilkes — a Monte Vista School first-grade teacher in the Hope Elementary School District in Santa Barbara — is the 2026 Santa Barbara County Teacher of the Year.
Sara DiSalvo, a music teacher at Cold Spring School in the Cold Spring School District in Montecito, will be recognized as the 2026 Santa Barbara Bowl Performing Arts Teacher of the Year.
The 2026 distinguished mentors to be recognized are social studies and AVID teacher Nicole Caiazza at La Cumbre Junior High School in the Santa Barbara Unified School District, Clarence Ruth School teacher Wendy Culver in the Lompoc Unified School District, and instructional coach Amanda Wildhagen at Fairlawn Elementary School in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District.
The 2026 distinguished new educators to be honored are agriculture teacher Alondra Barrueta-Novoa at Santa Maria High School in the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District, agriculture/science teacher Emily Garcia at Carpinteria High School in the Carpinteria Unified School District, and bilingual education specialist Gloria Sevilla at Taylor Elementary School in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District.
In addition to Cox, Salute to Teachers is sponsored by Noozhawk, Driscoll’s, Fielding Graduate University, Melfred Borzall, Ramsey Asphalt Construction and the Santa Barbara Bowl.
Noozhawk Q&A
Noozhawk: What was the moment you knew, “I want to be a teacher?”
Wendy Culver: My degree is in environmental analysis and design, but I realized before I left college that I wanted to find a way to be “in the field” and make a positive difference — something that the career paths in front of me didn’t appear to offer.
I realized that outdoor education might be the perfect crossover from my knowledge base to something meaningful. While working in this field, one week I found myself working with a group of fifth-graders from Whittier. I felt challenged, intrigued, engaged and completely joyful.
In that moment I felt the confirmation in my heart that this is what I was meant to do. I always thought that the right career had to do with the right place — that week I realized it was the people who brought the purpose.
Noozhawk: How long have you been teaching?
WC: This is my 22nd year.
Noozhawk: What is your favorite subject or lesson plan to teach your students?
WC: I have learned to love all my subjects — even ones that I didn’t especially enjoy in school, but I truly love teaching literary analysis.
There is something magical about witnessing a student learn how to unlock theme, imagery, symbolism and craft in a text.
There is no other discipline in which a learner truly takes control of his or her own learning and extracts their own meaning from it.
Noozhawk: What’s your classroom superpower — and how did you develop it?
WC: Teaching literary analysis is probably the closest thing to a superpower for me. I developed it over the years, but it got a serious head start in my student teaching as I was assigned to a whole language classroom — one of the last in existence in the early 2000s.
In this setting, I learned from a true master teacher how to let children lead discussions and trust them to get truth, beauty and something original out of a text.
I learned that children understand when they are doing something powerful — it elevates them in their own eyes.
Noozhawk: Share a student success story that stays with you (no names needed).
WC: As a mother of a child with special needs, I am especially motivated to create learning environments that will allow all students to be integrated and successful.
My favorite success stories are of my boys and girls who came into our classroom feeling either defeated by what they had already faced or unaware of what they were capable of doing, and discovered that they had hidden strengths and were equal to their peers in all the important ways.
Those smiles shine the brightest in my memory.
Noozhawk: What’s one change you made this year — tool, routine or strategy — that moved the needle?
WC: I am teaching a combination class for the first time in 20 years this year. The biggest change I made was seeking advice from teachers who had recently taught combo classes and being willing to discard long-standing practices in favor of the methods they used to teach two grades at once.
The fact that these strategies have worked is proving to me the importance of being willing to reinvent yourself from time to time, and the necessity of listening to the wisdom of others — not just your own opinions.
Noozhawk: What advice would you give your first-year teacher self?
WC: As a first-year teacher, I knew next-to-nothing about the right way to do anything, but, fortunately, I didn’t let that stop me from trying everything.
I taught really interesting lessons because I, myself, was so excited about learning. I planned an astronomy night, organized an after-school drama club and hosted literature discussions with high school English classes.
Interestingly, I really don’t remember how I stacked up against my colleagues in terms of test scores or other measures by which we judge teachers. (I am sure I wasn’t great!)
Maybe those things don’t matter as much as we think they do. I would tell a first-year teacher to similarly chase the joy of learning.
We pile a lot on teachers nowadays, but new teachers need to constantly connect with their joyful purpose. It is important — something to guard and cherish — because it will see them through.
Noozhawk: Who are your mentors?
WC: I had excellent mentors in the early years of my career. These teachers let me inhabit their spaces and made me feel like an equal and someone who brought value to the school.
Patty Lamb was my first classroom neighbor who never was too busy for meaningful encouragement.
Julie Robertson was my partner teacher for years, and she patiently laid an excellent foundation of procedures and classroom management to stabilize my development as an educator.
Cathy Farmer supportively led me from being the new teacher only responsible for herself to someone who was ready for leadership.
Noozhawk: Who are the people in your life and work environment who support you every day?
WC: I have been uniquely blessed by the support of my family — parents, siblings, my husband and my in-laws throughout my entire career.
If I ever needed something, they were each and all there — giving, cleaning, carrying, cheering and holding me when I was crying.
Furthermore, I have the most wonderful friends that I also get to call colleagues. Over more than 20 years, so many dear women have stood with me, encouraged me, prayed with me, and (very importantly) laughed with me.
Jamie Mathews, Amanda Ordonez, Bethany Largent and Jessi Morgan each represent vital seasons, enduring friendships and precious confidences in my heart.
These friends have become mentors to me in a new way — the reciprocal way the true friends can make each other better.
Noozhawk: What is your favorite quote?
WC: Philippians 1:6 — “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Noozhawk: How does it feel to be honored as part of A Salute to Teachers?
WC: It is constantly amazing to me that I get to be a part of this honor.
I am humbled and reminded of the importance of continuing to look for ways daily to encourage my colleagues and support them by strengthening our school with advocacy and understanding.
