Susana Magana, dental hygiene major, waited with a group of her fellow classmates in the Student Center for the Outstanding Faculty Awards to begin.

Magana, the senior president of the Dental Hygiene Club came out with her classmates to cheer for her professor Adelle Krayer.

Krayer was one of the faculty members honored Thursday for her achievements and hard work by peers and students.

Faculty members were nominated by their students while a committee later voted on the best candidate.

“She’s always there for us no matter what,” said Hernandez, “she gives us talks where you’re so motivated you feel like you can conquer the world.”

When Krayer was introduced on stage the group of students roared with applause and cheers.

Sergio Hernandez, a dental hygiene major and junior president of the club, also described Krayer’s hard work and desire to help her students.

“She’s just really great. She teaches us in a … disciplined way, at the same time she has fun with it.”

“It’s very lighthearted. So everyone just really enjoys being in her class.”

The biggest source of pride for Krayer was knowing that her students nominated her and appreciated her commitment.

“It’s absolutely wonderful because the nomination came from my students. And it’s really a great thing when your students nominate you for this award.”

“Even more so than if your faculty members nominate you because it’s coming from the people that I want to make a difference with.”

Helene Wagner was another professor nominated for a Distinguished Faculty Award.

“It feels so great. I feel so honored. It’s just so humbling not just for the reasons of being nominated by the faculty, but also by the students.”

“They don’t often do a lot stuff for part-time instructors and I’ve been a part-time instructor for 14 years. So it’s really nice to know that people see you.”

Wagner and Krayer were just two of the 11 recipients of the Distinguished Faculty Awards.

Other categories included Years of Service Awards that were awarded to faculty who have been at Cerritos College for 25 and 30 years.

An award for Most Outstanding Faculty was also presented to Professor Terry Price.

Currently Price is professor of plastics and manufacturing technology as well as the Department Chair of the plastics technology program.

“It’s the pinnacle of what you can hope to achieve in an academic setting,” Price said, “it’s a big thrill and honor to be recognized by students (and) faculty.”

Price has been teaching for 37 years at different colleges including California State University Long Beach, before arriving at Cerritos College.

“During the time I been here it’s all quite different, but I find home is here at Cerritos.

“The student body ranges from high school graduates, all the way to people of business and industry coming back for retraining.

“When a student gets a job or he comes back and…gets a raise because the training he received. That’s really gratifying to see.”