Jeannette Aguilera receives a 2026 Teacher of the Year award from the Orange County Department of Education in her classroom at Anaheim's Centralia Elementary School. (Courtesy of Orange County Department of Education)When a fellow teacher warned her about a difficult incoming student, Jeannette Aguilera took a direct approach: She sat down with the child and established a rapport. It worked so well that years after he left her class, Aguilera ’10 (B.S. child and adolescent development) attended the student’s band concert, saw him graduate high school and heard all about his first job. (Courtesy of Orange County Department of Education)Aguilera carried what she learned from supportive instructors into her own career and used it to help her students see the best in themselves.