Corona educator named a 2025 California Teacher of the Year

Corona High School automotive technology teacher Bob Mauger is one of the California’s five teachers of the year, officials announced Tuesday.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said in a statement, “These remarkable teachers have a lasting impact on their students, equipping them with the skills needed for success. They serve as an inspiration and exemplify the exceptional work happening in California schools.”

In May, Mauger was named one of four 2025 Riverside County Teachers of the Year.

“Mr. Mauger’s selection as a 2025 California Teacher of the Year is a testament to the excellence of educators across Riverside County who continue to focus on providing outstanding opportunities for students in their classrooms while preparing them for their future,” Riverside County Superintendent of Schools Edwin Gomez said in a statement. “His resourcefulness in securing industry-standard tools and equipment helps ensure that students have what they need to succeed, secure jobs, and overcome personal challenges.”

The state Department of Education administers the Teachers of the Year Program with support from the California Teachers of the Year Foundation. The program began in 1972 to publicly recognize outstanding teachers with the added aim of helping to inspire new teachers to enter the profession.

Mauger and the other teachers of the year will serve a yearlong stint as ambassadors of the profession and as representatives of the state.

“The prospect of becoming a teacher never entered Bob Mauger’s mind,” according to a statement from the Riverside County Office of Education. “After many stops and starts exploring various career options, everything changed after he volunteered at his daughter’s elementary school. … Mauger describes his teaching career as increasingly rewarding with each passing year — especially as more students make the shift from his classroom to their own career journeys. His greatest satisfaction comes from witnessing the ‘aha’ moments from students — especially when diagnosing and fixing issues under the hood of automobiles.”

While taking online courses for a degree in social and criminal justice with the intention of becoming a probation officer, Mauger discovered he had an interest in child development. He began his education career working with emotionally disturbed students, but Mauger’s “lifelong passion for hands-on work and mechanical repair, passed down from his father, led to earning a career and technical education credential,” according to the Office of Education. “Bob’s expertise in restoring cars has led to the restoration of the automotive technology program at Corona High School, which is not only preparing students with technical skills, but with life skills like confidence, a strong work ethic, and how to be a good human.”

Mauger’s fellow teachers describe him as “a consummate professional with the desire to make his auto technology classes not only industry standard — but the best in the nation,” according to the Office of Education. Another colleague said Mauger’s “high core values and excellent communication skills have led to his auto shop becoming a platform for connecting students to learning.”

Mauger has a bachelor’s degree in social and criminal justice with a minor in child development from Ashford University and a master’s in teaching and learning from Brandman University.

The Office of Education provided this list of Riverside County teachers who preceded Mauger as state teachers of the year:

• 2022 – Nichi Aviña, Cielo Vista Charter School, Palm Springs USD
• 2021 – Keisa Brown, University Heights Middle School, Riverside USD, and Allison Cyr, Lyndon B. Johnson Elementary School, Desert Sands USD
• 2020 – Brenda Chavez-Barreras, Good Hope Elementary School, Perris ESD
• 2019 – Dr. Angel Mejico, El Cerrito Middle School, Corona-Norco USD
• 2018 – Dr. Brian McDaniel, Painted Hills Middle School, Palm Springs USD
• 2017 – Shaun Bunn, Ethan A. Chase Middle School, Romoland School District
• 2016 – Michelle Cherland, Carrillo Ranch Elementary School, Desert Sands USD
• 2014 – Jessica Pack, James Workman Middle School, Palm Springs USD

County education departments submit nominees for the California Teachers of the Year Program via county-level competitions. California Department of Education selection committees review applications from counties, then evaluate teachers’ rapport with students, classroom environments, presentation skills and teaching techniques and interview teachers.

The superintendent of public instruction selects the state’s five teachers of the year and the National Teacher of the Year nominee.

Thurmond nominated Matthew Winheim, a middle school STEM aviation and mathematics teacher at Space Aeronautics Gateway to Exploration Magnet Academy in the Palmdale Unified School District, to represent California in the National Teacher of the Year competition this spring.

The three other state honorees are Kristen LoPrell, a mathematics and AP calculus teacher at Grossmont High School in the Grossmont Union High School District in San Diego County; Nicholas Westfall, a physical education teacher at Alexander Hamilton Senior High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District; and Arby Jean Wolkov, an American Sign Language teacher at William Howard Taft Charter High School in the LAUSD.

More information on the award program is available online at the California Teachers of the Year web page.

Riverside County teachers of the year are chosen from nearly 20,000 educators who participate in an application process requiring them “to spend time reflecting on, and carefully defining, their teaching philosophy,” according to the Office of Education. Teachers of the year first must be nominated by teachers, principals and school district administrators. Applications go to the Office of Education, and a selection committee reviews the applications chooses semifinalists.

The selection committee then does interviews and site visits at schools to select the final four honorees, leading to the superintendent’s announcements of the finalists.