Building up the next generation: Two alumni named among county’s top teachers

A nurturing fifth grade teacher who makes every child feel valued and a tech-savvy middle school instructor who equips students for future careers are the two San Diego State University alumni honored as 2025-26 San Diego County Teachers of the Year.

Allison Schmitt ('14) from Solana Pacific Elementary School in Solana Beach and Kevin T. White ('06, '07, '17) from De Portola Middle School in San Diego’s Tierrasanta neighborhood were among five award recipients announced in late May by the San Diego County Office of Education and Cox Communications. 

Both will be spotlighted in September on the "Cox Presents: Salute to Teachers" television special on the YurView network. They are also now in the running for the 2026 California Teacher of the Year honor.

Here is a closer look at each honoree:

Allison Schmitt

At parent-teacher conferences, Schmitt has an important message to share with her families.

“I always say, ‘It's great to get good grades, but it's greater to be a good person,” explains Schmitt, whose mother was also a San Diego-area educator. “We talk a lot about how kind they are to their classmates, if they're creative, if they're amazing storytellers, if their art is incredible. 

“It’s about what we can highlight to build them up as much as possible.”

Going into her 10th year at Solana Pacific and 15th as an elementary school teacher, Schmitt has found success with a relationship-based approach that celebrates students’ individuality.

Each morning, Schmitt’s kiddos are greeted with a warm smile and relaxing music in the classroom. They are free to sit wherever they wish, selecting between comfortable chairs and pillows on the floor as the day begins with a free read. Much of the work is collaborative, creating an environment she lovingly calls “constructive chaos.”

Even homework centers the students’ interests as she assigns them to journal for 15 minutes a night.

“Sometimes they talk about things that are going on at home that are challenging, or things that they want to celebrate,” she said. “And every day, they get personalized notes from me.”

The connections formed are powerful. Schmitt often finds herself invited to her students’ sporting events, dance performances or recitals. She attends when she can, and when she can’t, proud parents often send videos.

“Everyone is just so different and I love being able to highlight their strengths,” Schmitt said. “If one of my girls had her Ukrainian dance festival over the weekend, you’d better believe when everybody comes in on Monday I’ll ask the class, ‘Did you guys know that Aneta had a performance? Aneta, can you show us?’”

Schmitt said her focus on building relationships with her students was inspired by her experience in SDSU’s master’s program in literacy, which she completed over three summers while teaching. 

While she relished the opportunity to learn from literacy experts like professors Nancy Frey and Marva Cappello, Schmitt also bonded with her classmates — none more so than Sarah Jenkins, an outgoing fellow teacher who quickly became one of her best friends. Jenkins passed away tragically during their final year of the program and a grieving Schmitt carried her picture during the graduation ceremony.

“Everyone in the program was so supportive of me and of her family,” she recalls. “It was just really beautiful, the community that we had together.” 

Now, a figurine Jenkins’s husband painted for his wife’s classroom adorns Schmitt’s desk — a symbolic continuation of her friend’s teaching journey.

Kevin T. White

For the past four years, White has taught in the College & Career Technical Education program at De Portola Middle. It’s a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)-based position he considers his dream job for the freedom it provides and the creativity it unleashes.

“We have a curriculum, but it's vast and there's so much out there under the umbrella of STEM that almost anything I can dream up I can connect to our standards,” White said. “So I'm really fortunate in the sense that I get to have fun every day with the kids — it's a blessing.”

White has augmented his lessons by securing grants from companies such as Toshiba and Taylor Guitars. His partnership with Taylor, for example, resulted in a donation of wood, electronics and instrument parts that enable his advanced students to design and build their own electric guitars. In the process, they learn the finer points of computer-aided design as well as how to effectively wield a drill and screwdriver.

White’s students learn to embrace what he calls a “culture of struggle,” where they work together to overcome obstacles to make things work. It’s all a necessity, he says, to prepare the next generation for the reality of artificial intelligence and automation.

“It’s going to require tech, but it's also going to require a creative human touch,” he said. “I want to make sure that (students) have a well-rounded skill set that's broadly applicable.”

At SDSU, White earned a bachelor’s in social science, a teaching credential and a master’s in Learning Design and Technology (LDT). As a graduate student, he thrived under the mentorship of lecturer Dan McDowell, who had been one of his teachers at West Hills High in Santee. 

McDowell is now a faculty colleague. White returned to SDSU to teach the course Virtual Reality, Imaginary Worlds and the Future of Learning (LDT 525). 

"The LDT program definitely supercharged my tech skill set,” he said. “The entire experience — and now getting an opportunity to be in the department with Dan — has been very special."