These educators show what it takes to be named 'teacher of the year' amid a pandemic

Rhiannon Chavez has always been an animated teacher, and her fourth-grade classroom is her theater. She sings, dances and gesticulates during her lessons, engaging her 23 students at 186th Street Elementary School in Gardena. But distance learning has elevated these tactics to a whole new level. Now, as she teaches into a computer screen from her home in San Pedro, she pours every last bit of energy into making sure that her enthusiasm is infectious enough to span the digital divide. From one of her three computer monitors screens she leads the children in a song about rounding numbers, her hand movements and facial expressions are bigger and more spirited than ever.