Saddleback Superintendent Crystal Turner Honored as 2018 Distinguished Alumna

From Lauds & Laurel Program

​Crystal Turner is the superintendent of the Saddleback Valley Unified School District, an innovator in public school districts throughout Orange County with a proven track record of success, and an active member of the School of Education Dean's Advisory Board.

The child of UCI alumni, she earned her undergraduate degree from UCI's School of Humanities and her Teaching Credential from UCI's School of Education. If she wasn't cracking books, Crystal was cracking pavement as a four-year cross country and track team member. And it was there she likely learned how to traverse paths with great speed, for by the time Crystal was 30, she had already become a principal. And, less that 10 years later, she rose to school superintendent and passionate advocate for preparing young people to enter into the global workplace through intentional lesson design, engaging strategies, and classroom technology innovation.

Named an Apple Distinguished Educator, Crystal is the recipient of numerous accolades for her work incorporating technology into the classroom. But she remains humble, crediting her success to her mother, a past Lauds & Laurels recipient whose love for learning was (and still is) magically infectious.