2009 – Karen Charpie-Elton – Frontier High
Karen has been an educator for thirty-three years. She transferred to Frontier from Santa Fe High School in 2003 after teaching in Lynwood and out of state for twenty-four years. Since then she has demonstrated her commitment to education through dedication and leadership in planning standards-based curriculum that meets the varied skills and learning styles of the continuation high school student. In 2007 Karen was honored with the Frontier Spirt of Education Award. She currently serves as the Frontier English department chair. Karen is adventurous and likes to try new ideas. She requested and successfully taught all-boys two hour English class and found that boys were able to “concentrate” more and were more academically productive. As the Senior Project Coordinator, she has been instrumental in encouraging her students to complete their projects and graduate. She has played a major role in increasing the number of graduates and, for the 2008-2009 school year, Frontier is looking to have a record number of graduates. Karen is highly esteemed by her colleagues and it is frequently commented that they would be thrilled to have Karen, an experienced, caring professional, who believes in the importance and value of a rigorous, quality education, teach their children.
