Adriana Gutierrez, PRESS DEMOCRAT
A group of Oak Grove Elementary School second graders buzzed around the school’s outdoor academic space in Sebastopol last Tuesday afternoon as part of an exercise to learn about pollination.
Their teacher, Hayley Blondin, hovered nearby as the students pretended to be bees and butterflies, visiting handmade paper flowers filled with faux pollen.
The outdoor exercise is one of many that the students have participated in since the school year began. Blondin’s commitment to creating those unique learning experiences for students is one of the reasons she was selected as the 2026 Sonoma County teacher of the year. The award is bestowed by the county’s Office of Education.
Blondin has nearly 20 years of experience teaching, mostly in bilingual Spanish language instruction. She spent the first decade of her career teaching in other countries.
Her love for outdoor education blossomed during her first international teaching role at the Cloud Forest School in Costa Rica. The school is known for its robust, integrated environmental instruction.
Read more at https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2026/05/26/oak-grove-teacher-blondin-award-sonoma-county/