Teacher Board Member

John Zavalney is the consummate environmental educator. He participates as a teacher, trainer, facilitator, or representative for leading global, national, and local environmental education programs including Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots; GLOBE; Project Learning Tree; Project Wild; Project Wet; Save our Seas, and many more.

In addition to his countless peace-making and environmental volunteer programs, John has served as the Secondary School Science Advisor for the Los Angeles Unified School District since September 2004. Prior to that, "Mr. Z," as he is affectionately known by his students, spent 16 years as a science teacher at Foshay Learning Center in South Central Los Angeles. John Zavalne's important contributions to the education and advancement of young people have been recognized with a host of prestigious educational awards and honors including: "Disney's American Teacher Award," the "Presidential Award for Excellence" in Science Education, and the President's Council on Environmental Quality's "Teacher Professional Development Award."

He has received commendations from State Board of Education; Former Governor Gray Davis; the City of Los Angeles; the Board of Education, Los Angeles; California Science Teachers; California State Senate; the Superintendent of Schools; and the State of Michigan Senate.

Mr. Zavalney was named Los Angeles County Teacher of the Year in 2000. Most recently, in 2007, Mr. Zavalney was trained by former Vice President Al Gore and his staff to serve as a speaker representing former Gore's Nobel prize winning documentary film "An Inconvenient Truth." To date, John has made more than 150 global warming presentations throughout the US and in Mexico.