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By the time the morning bell rings at Rosewood STEM Magnet, Urban Planning and Urban Design, Monika Heidi Duque has already been in her classroom for hours — reviewing lesson plans, setting out materials, and greeting students by name.  

Duque, who has taught at the award-winning, urban planning-themed LAUSD elementary school in West Hollywood for 18 years, was one of four teachers named as finalists by the state education department for the 2026 California Teachers of the Year  in October. She was the only LAUSD teacher to receive the honor.

Duque works hard to create a free-flowing vibe in her first-grade classroom to promote the creativity of her students, describing the scene as the “best kind” of messy.  

“It’s a place where my students are able to wonder, to be curious, to take risks, to be able to make things with their hands and minds,” said Duque, who has been a teacher in Los Angeles Unified since 2000. 

“It’s a place where you can tell learning is happening,” she said of her classroom. 

The veteran teacher’s freewheeling approach is apparent in her classroom but there’s a method to the mayhem. Everything her students do is somehow tied back to the school’s theme of urban planning and urban design, topics Duque admits could be heady for her six-year-old students, were it not for her approach to the subjects, which links them to kids’ everyday lives. 

On a recent school day, students in Duque’s class were drawing pictures of designs for a new community space in Griffith Park  after she noticed a news report about the city’s struggle to repurpose the area formerly used for pony rides.   

Students drew pictures of their ideas for the space, coloring construction paper using markers and drawing their visions for forests and lazy rivers that could be installed in L.A.’s historic park.  

In subsequent parts of the project, Duque said, students will create three-dimensional models of their ideas for the part using recycled materials such as cardboard and paper.  

“We’re making an arcade that’s called Fun Time, and then we put a petting zoo next to it called Pig Pig,” said Ben, a student in Duque’s class, who was working on a drawing with a few classmates. “I wonder if it will really happen.”

Duque often pulls ideas for lessons from real-life events in L.A., finding the  sprawling and diverse city offers no shortage of inspiration for classroom activities tied to urban planning. 

“I just keep my eyes and ears to the news, and I just see what’s happening in our community, and I just get ideas from there,” she said. 

A favorite lesson from a few years ago was based on an experience the teacher had while walking her dog in Griffith Park, when a coyote approached the two and nearly attacked Duque’s pet. 

Feral coyotes are common in L.A. and such experiences aren’t unusual, but this event inspired Duque to create a lesson for students to create outfits for pets to repel predatory coyote attacks.

Students created costumes for pets that featured things known to deter coyotes, such as flashing lights. One student liked the project so much  she created a picture book about the lesson with her parents, a copy of which Duque keeps displayed on the wall in her class. 

“It’s another example of how I really look at what’s in our city, what’s in the news, and what’s relevant to kids and our lives,” the teacher said. 

Duque’s relentless curiosity and enthusiasm make her a natural leader among her colleagues at Rosewood, said the school’s principal, Linda Crowder.  

“She is a lifelong learner,” Crowder said. “She gets something and she runs with it.”