CSUB alumni helping lead statewide teacher training initiative

Project provides high-quality lesson plans, resources for educators

By California State University, Bakersfield

April 21^st, 2025

Three California State University, Bakersfield alumni are playing key roles in a new statewide initiative focused on providing high-quality instructional materials to educators.

Jade Bumatay, Jami Butler and Cecilia Estrada have helped implement the Kern County Superintendent of School’s (KCSOS) High-Quality Online Instructional Materials Initiative, which provides free access to a repository of teacher-submitted lesson plans and classroom resources through the platform California Educators Together.

The three-year initiative, which wraps up on June 30, was funded through a $15 million grant from the California Department of Education.

“The whole point is to increase equity and access to high-quality instructional materials,” said Butler, a program specialist with KCSOS and a former educator. “There are some districts in California we’ve gone to that have amazing facilities and equipment. Then we’ve gone to some tiny rural districts that don’t have that same equipment or access to high-quality resources. By offering high-quality resources and lessons to teachers, we’re leveling that playing field.”

Anyone can create a free account on California Educators Together to access the repository. Educators looking to contribute to the initiative can participate in the Lesson Design Institute, which instructs teachers on how to craft and submit high-quality materials.

Once a material gets submitted, they must then be vetted to ensure they align with California standards, incorporate English Language Development support and meet the needs of all student learners before finally being approved.

Teachers are paid for each lesson or resource that gets approved for the platform. As of last year, nearly $1.6 million had been paid out to educators through the initiative, according to KCSOS.

“We have teachers who have made thousands of dollars through this project,” said Estrada, who also works as a program specialist. “It makes me so happy to know we’re not just supporting them with professional development and growing their skill sets — they’re also being rewarded for the work that they’re doing.”

Nearly 5,000 lesson plans and over 2,000 resources are currently available on the California Educators Together platform, according to KCSOS, with educators from 40 of California’s 58 counties participating. Estrada herself has written and submitted over 100 lesson plans.

“It’s cool to be a literally published author,” she said. “The feedback we’ve gotten is that teachers feel valued and seen through this project.”

Butler, who taught for 15 years in the Tehachapi Unified School District before joining the county office, said it’s important that teachers not have to resort to spending their own money for classroom materials.

“A lot of times in this profession, these kinds of costs tend to fall on teachers themselves,” she said. “To be able to offer free professional development, while also giving them a fair wage for the time they’re spending creating these lesson plans and resources, is really cool.”

While the High-Quality Online Instructional Materials Initiative originally focused on developing a repository of lesson plans, it was expanded to include classroom-ready resources after seeing a demand for those materials from educators.

“We noticed a lot of them were looking for standalone resources they could use,” Estrada said. “They’re less complex than a lesson plan. They are more about being fun and engaging. Now we have this big library just for resources.”

In addition to providing access to materials, the initiative is also focused on forging stronger connections and partnerships with teachers across the state. Bumatay — who serves as the program facilitator — plays a key role in forming those partnerships, as well as designing events and virtual learning groups on the California Educators Together platform.

“It’s a big cognitive load in what we present to them, but the feedback has been overwhelming. They wish they had this professional development when they were new teachers,” she said.

Dr. Edward Gonzalez, director of high-quality instructional materials at KCSOS, said he has been impressed by the work that Butler, Bumatay and Estrada have done as part of the initiative.

“Working with Jami, Ceci and Jade has been an incredible experience,” he said. “Their talent, creativity, and dedication have been instrumental in helping our team exceed our goals and deliver high-quality, innovative programming.”

From CSUB to KCSOS

The CSUB alumni each took different paths that eventually led them to joining the Kern County Superintendent of Schools office, but they all started at the university.

Butler was the first to graduate from CSUB, earning a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies in 2008 and her teaching credential the following year. Next was Bumatay, who graduated in 2012 with a degree in studio arts.

“I loved my time and experience with the Art Department at CSUB. The instructors really stretched me during my time there,” Bumatay said. “It has translated into all of my positions here at the county office, especially with creating groups for the platforms, creating the layout for those, having that creative and artistic eye.”

Estrada is the team’s most recent graduate, having received her bachelor’s in liberal studies in 2019, her teaching credential in 2020 and her master’s in curriculum and instruction in 2021, all from CSUB.

“I had a great experience. I’m still in touch with the people I had as professors,” she said.

One of those teachers was Dr. Gonzalez, a fellow CSUB alum who — in addition to his work at KCSOS — is an adjunct instructor at the university. He taught one of Estrada’s classes in her master’s program.

“As a proud CSUB `Runner myself, it’s incredibly meaningful to see our alumni taking the lead on a statewide platform,” he said. “These three graduates exemplify the talent, drive and potential that all CSUB students carry. I’m especially proud to see Cecilia shine in this space. Her success is a testament to the caliber of our graduate programs and a reminder that the solutions and leadership we need often come from within our own community.”

Estrada’s first job was through CSUB. She worked as a tutor for the California Mini-Corps Program, which provides services and support to migrant students.

“That was what was really started my education career and what confirmed that I wanted to go into teaching,” she said.

Estrada participated in the university’s Kern Urban Teacher Residency program while she was pursuing her credential, which gave her the opportunity to get teaching experience with the Bakersfield City School District.

Estrada went on to work as a teacher in the district for three years after getting her credential. She then left for KCSOS after hearing about the High-Quality Online Instructional Materials Initiative.

“All of those skills I learned in the residency allowed me to start my teaching career and not feel like I didn’t know what I was doing,” she said.

Estrada said she was looking for opportunities to expand her reach outside of the classroom.

“I love teaching so much, but I also wanted to grow professionally and make a bigger impact,” she said. “Working statewide and leading professional development — I had never done that as a teacher. I really wanted that for myself, and to support other teachers.”

Through her position at KCSOS, Estrada was able to present the initiative to CSUB students in the teacher preparation programs.

“It’s been nice to bring the work that we’ve been doing to CSUB and support future educators. I really enjoy going back to where it all started,” she said.

While Butler said she was used to creating high-quality lesson plans for her classes and sharing them with colleagues, the position with the county gave her the opportunity to do so on a much larger scale.

“This position really pushed me to leave the classroom for the first time,” she said. “People have encouraged me to do that in the past, but nothing felt right until this.”

A 'very rewarding' experience

The trio said they’ve grown both personally and professionally over the years they’ve worked on the High-Quality Online Instructional Materials Initiative.

“It’s given me a lot of room to creatively problem-solve in a way I haven’t really had in the past,” Butler said. “I truly believe if someone comes to me with an idea, I now have the skills to make it happen.”

Estrada said the project gave her more confidence in herself, expanded her knowledge about teaching and helped her develop stronger networking and leadership skills.

“It’s been very overwhelming but in the most rewarding and positive way. Through this job, I did things I didn’t know I could do,” she said. “I never really saw myself as a leader in the classroom but being in this role taught me that as an educator, you have so many skills that are transferable to leadership.”

Having spent much of her childhood living in Mexico and having to learn English as a second language in high school, Estrada was self-conscious about how she spoke and would sometimes be intimidated when she had to network with people.

“This job really pushed me to do that,” she said about networking. “Sometimes I still feel that I don’t know what I’m saying or that I’m saying things wrong. I have that in the back in my head always, but I now feel more comfortable with it. That’s one of the things I’m most grateful for, because had I stayed in the classroom, I don’t know if I would have ever accomplished the things I have.”

Bumatay is proud of what the team has been able to accomplish with the initiative, especially since they had to develop this depository of materials from scratch with a small group of six people who were actively working on it.

“Seeing the fruit of all the time my team has been put into curating this wonderful professional learning for California educators up and down the state has been amazing,” she said. “It’s been a lot of work, but it’s been very rewarding to see our impact. I’ve been getting emails from people outside of the state asking if they’re able to use some of our resources.”

Dr. Gonzalez said he appreciates the effort Butler, Bumatay and Estrada have put into the High-Quality Online Instructional Materials Initiative and how they have honed their skills.

“Watching these amazing women grow into their roles over the past three years and truly blossom on a statewide platform has been one of the highlights of my career,” he said.

The CSUB alumni will be moving into new roles at KCSOS after the project wraps up in June, but they hope that the office will receive more funding to continue expanding and improving on the initiative.

“This community that we’ve built is so great,” Butler said. “We’re very hopeful that the work we’ve done will be recognized and that there will be more funding eventually so we can continue doing some of this work.”