Bishop - Educator honored for dedication to teaching

One Bishop educator was recently called back to her alma mater, where she was honored for her dedication to the education system.
Bishop resident Joy Straub, best known as former principal of the Bishop Union Elementary School District, and as the teacher who, for the past 10 years, has taken local students to the nation’s capitol for Spring Break, was presented with the Alumnus of Point Loma award from Point Loma Nazarene University on Nov. 21.
“This award was so unexpected, and yet so timely to assure me that my years in education have been valued,” said Straub. “I appreciate so much PLNU and their dedication to producing high quality contributors to society. I am very grateful for all I was given and for all my children are now receiving from this institution.”
Alumnus Award recipients are nominated by fellow alumni and members of the PLNU community for their contributions to their industries and their communities. Awardees are selected for their “strong Christian testimony, outstanding professions, academic or service accomplishments and their impact on the lives of others,” a press release from the university states.

Joy Straub receives her Alumnus of Point Loma award from Point Loma Nazarene University Alumni President Jeff Kinzler in November. The award is given out each year to four outstanding alumni from Point Loma. Photo submitted

Each year the awardees are honored at Homecoming.
Straub was selected specifically for her years of service as an engineer, teacher and principal.
“She is at ease with all types of audiences – administrators, professors, teachers, parents and students,” said Karen Davis, who was director of PLNU’s Arcadia Regional Center where Straub worked on her administrative credential. “She is sensitive to the needs of others and values their opinions and comments.”
At the awards ceremony, Straub was introduced by professor of mathematics while at PLNU, Dr. David Strawn.
Straub said she was proud to have Strawn introduce her at the ceremony.
“When I was there, he really invested in me, he made sure I got into some professional journals … He really wanted me to go into teaching math,” she said.
After receiving the award, Straub addressed the entire current student body, board of trustees and visiting alumni. She also had the opportunity to speak in classes of current math and education majors.
“The best time of the entire event was getting to talk with current students and to encourage them as they start out,” she said.
Straub said the students at PLNU were interested in her experiences in the field.
“They get all the theory, and they really wanted to get the practical side,” Straub said. “They wanted to know what kinds of things they need to be well rounded and to get a job.”
Also in attendance at the awards ceremony were Straub’s parents, brothers, sister-in-law, husband and children. Her two oldest children are currently students at PLNU.
“This was probably one of the most honoring experiences of my life,” Straub said, noting that the experience was magnified by the presence of her family and loved ones, as well as the staff, students and faculty that were on hand from her old university.
Straub and her family moved to Bishop in 2001. She began teaching at Big Pine High School, and then transferred the next year to teach math at Home Street Middle School. She served as principal of Pine Street Elementary School for the past three years until the school’s superintendent and school board chose to reassign her to the classroom, citing budget concerns, this past fall.
Straub has led a trip to Washington, D.C. for Home Street eighth graders since 2003.
This year will mark her 10th trip overall with the eighth graders.