Three San Diego Unified School District teachers have been selected as Teachers of the Year — including one from University City High School. Elle Vandiver, a biomedical sciences teacher at UCHS, will compete against Marshall Middle School’s Joey Lepetri and special-education teacher Patti Read from Lindbergh/Schweitzer Elementary School. Vandiver began her career as a registered nurse in Michigan. She discovered her passion for teaching after working with high school interns in her hospital’s intensive care unit. Now in her 12th year of teaching, Vandiver strives to help her students see connections between the curriculum and the real world, having seen more than 20 of her students become nurses, doctors and medical researchers. “Taking this real-world knowledge and bringing it to the kids is what I strive for every day,” she said. “Because I have that background, I can open doors.” Read, Lepetri and Vandiver will compete for San Diego County Teacher of the Year. The three were honored in a ceremony on May 8 at Madison High School. — Staff and contribution