Ahead of the 2024 Crystal Apple Awards for outstanding educators on May 22, Salem Reporter is profiling several of the 97 nominees. The awards are presented by the McLaran Leadership Foundation and the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce at the Salem Convention Center. Tickets are sold out.

Trang Pham beams as she talks about the students in her reading group.

Last year, she took on a new task at Yoshikai Elementary School, working with small groups of fifth graders who struggle to read. With her coaching, the group progressed and no longer needed such dedicated help.

“I am so happy for him,” she said of one of her students. “He works so hard.”

It’s an attribute he shares with Pham, according to a half dozen coworkers who nominated the instructional assistant for a Crystal Apple Award. They listed her job as “instructional assistant extraordinaire.”

Pham moved to Salem in 2008 from her native Vietnam, where she was a high school chemistry teacher. She wanted to work in schools again and missed teaching, but didn’t think her English was good enough. Instead, she focused on raising her two daughters, one of whom now attends Yoshikai.

As her second language improved, Pham began volunteering at Hammond Elementary School, then worked as a substitute instructional assistant across the district.

She has been at Yoshikai for three years, helping students with math assignments and phonics in small groups. 

“Her insistence on hard work from her students is coupled with a loving support of their efforts and the results are remarkable. Her hard work has truly changed the course of learning for some of our most vulnerable students,” teacher Denise Roberts wrote in a nomination letter.

Pham is also the school’s crossing guard, a role she took on after seeing how many kids walked to the east Salem school without parents.

“I feel bad — the kids need help,” she said of the job.

Even if she’s sick, Pham doesn’t miss a day on the street. If she can’t come to class, teachers can fill in for her, but she said there’s nobody else to make sure students get across the street safely.

“In all the weather Oregon has to offer, she faithfully serves as a crossing guard for our students. She understands the importance of student safety and doesn’t miss her post. She is dedicated to our families,” Yoshikai parent Prisha Ward-Saylor wrote in a nomination letter.

Pham uses her experience as an immigrant who’s also struggled to learn English to connect with students, many of whom are native Spanish speakers.

She empathizes with those who struggle to pronounce words or can’t make sense of what’s on the page in front of them, even if they understand the same information in their native language.

“That’s why we go to school — to learn,” she tells them.

On Thursday morning, she worked with four fifth graders, going over a worksheet on dividing decimals. Teacher Heidi Weigel said Pham is adept at helping students explain their thinking for story problems in math. 

“I just love that I can count on her to help the kids understand what it is they’re learning or struggling with,” Weigel said. “She’s just always so vibrant.”

Pham said she was initially nervous about her Crystal Apple nomination and the prospect of walking a red carpet for the award ceremony. But she smiled, saying students have been coming up to her and congratulating her.

She plans to attend the ceremony with her daughters.

“I am so happy and I am so lucky to work with my coworkers,” she said.

Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.

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