A proud fifth generation teacher and a recent winner of the Distinguished Teaching Award, Ellen White teaches early childhood development classes at MHCC and is fueled from her less than perfect training. Taking a leaf from her parents’ book - White’s mother was an elementary art teacher and her father a business professor at Cal State - White knew she wanted her career to involve young children.

"I was a sophomore or junior in high school when 'Head Start' did their first program, which was a summer program and I volunteered. I absolutely loved it and I think that was a good clue as to where I was going to end up."

White has devoted 18 years of her life to help mold teachers. An instructor in the Early Childhood Development program, she has gained experience and knowledge from all over the United States. Earning credits from the University of Arizona, Antioch College in Ohio, and Temple University in Philadelphia, White graduated from UC-Davis in California.

White accepted the job at MHCC in September of 1987.

"My undergraduate degree is in anthropology. I consider that to be an excellent background for teaching," said White. White realized she wanted to go into teacher training when she went through the graduate program at UC-Davis.

“My own teacher training was appallingly bad. It was really, really awful and I knew even as I was going through that training that there had to be a better way. There had to be something that was more useful and more help and I really, at that point, made a commitment. I wanted to be on the front line working with people who were going to directly be in the classrooms with children and the community college was the place to be."

White put her ambition and goals to the test at MHCC and gained respect from the community and her fellow colleagues. Unlike her own college days when many of her classes lacked the curriculum she needed, she puts her students in the classroom within the first few weeks. Her students gain knowledge about children they couldn't get from a book and several hours of experience. "They are not visitors in the classroom; they are part of the classroom team. I think that's a huge advantage."

As for her award, White praised others at the school for their equally hard work. She says she owes her reward to her two colleagues — Chris Heideman, department chair of Early Childhood Education, and Kris Pearson, supervisor in the Child Development Center — for her nomination and the encouragement they have given her over the years.

“It’s very meaningful to me. I really appreciate it. I really want to be clear; it’s not a one - woman show. I am so grateful [to] my colleagues and my friends. It’s very much a joint effort down here.”