State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson has named Mira Costa High School’s director of choirs Michael Hayden as one of five California Teachers of the Year.
Hayden, who began his post in 2007, was chosen earlier this year as the Manhattan Beach Unified School District Teacher of the Year and as one of 16 Los Angeles County Teachers of the Year.
“First of all I’m so humbled by this and so honored,” he said. “Through this entire process from Teacher of the Year at Mira Costa…to be named top five in the state, it’s just really overwhelming. All along the way I’m surrounded by incredible teachers, and any one of a number of teachers could be in the position I’m in, particularly in the Manhattan Beach school district. It’s really hard to describe how I feel because it’s so momentous.”
As part of the distinction, Hayden and the four other teachers will meet with State Superintendent Torlakson on Dec. 2 and participate in a full day of professional development in Sacramento. The group will be honored at a Sacramento luncheon next February.
“Michael Hayden personifies the very best of both the art and science of teaching,” MBUSD Superintendent Dr. Michael Matthews wrote in a statement. “He instinctively embeds all of the ‘Four Cs’ of an outstanding 21st century education in his classroom on a daily basis: communication, critical thinking, collaboration and creativity. Students learn much more than correct vocal technique and how to read music; they learn confidence, respect, reflection and a lifelong passion for music.”
Hayden began his career teaching choir at a high school in Indiana. Two years later, he left to earn his master’s degree in choral conducting at Eastman School of Music in New York, after which he began a teaching post at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.
After obtaining his doctorate at Michigan State University, Hayden for five years taught at Butler University, his alma mater. It was then he decided to step away from teaching, working as a freelance choral adjudicator and teaching private voice lessons.
He traveled across the U.S., Australia and New Zealand advising competitive choirs as part of Sweet Adelines International, a worldwide organization for female singers.
“Traveling so much and working with so many people over a six-year period gave me the tools necessary to come back to the classroom,” Hayden said. “That’s when I decided I want to go back to a really fabulous high school, and that’s when I found Mira Costa.”
He said the distinction is a personal inspiration that keeps him striving to be exceptional in the classroom.
“When you’re given an honor like this, when you’re told you’re exceptional, you then want to live into that minute by minute, hour by hour, daily,” he said.
