Photo by Carrie Pryor-Newman
Campus and District Teachers of the Year along with the James Becker Thomson winner and the ESL and Bilingual Teachers of the Year were honored at a recent gala at Ross S. Sterling High School. Pictured are (front, from left) Sandra Sanchez; Pam Bradford; Robin Wright; Kendra Symcox; Emily Patrick, District Secondary Teacher of the Year; Crystal Mokhtari, District Elementary Teacher of the Year; Lizette Austin; Dayna “Michelle” Hix, ESL Teacher of the Year; Belinda Morales, Bilingual Teacher of the Year; Erin Stokes, James Becker Thomson Award winner; (back, from left) Janie Rodriguez; Gina Ham; Denise Ross; Deedra Moon; Desirei Sneed; Kayla Logan; Dee Doyle; Jennifer Kovalcik; Norma D. Garcia; Richard Morris; Stacy Romeo; Sally Black; Beverly Gill; Stacey Mullins; Stephanie Stover; Patricia Authement; Lisa Rogers; Nancy Bonds; Amy Henderson; Areasha Hebert and Gala Robinson.
Retirees and Teachers of the Year Honored at Gala
By Susan Passmore
Twelve retirees and 31 teachers were honored at the recent Retiree/Teacher of the Year Gala at Ross S. Sterling High School. Randal O’Brien, Goose Creek CISD superintendent, thanked the RSS Orchestra, under the direction of Nick McMurrey, for performing prior to the program and welcomed guests. He recognized retiring superheroes Maria Blanchard, 30 years with the district and 33 years in education; Donna Britt, 26 years in education in GCCISD; Richard Clem, 28 years with GCCISD and 32 years in education; Pat Clement, 21 years in GCCISD; Bruce Davis, 33 years in education in GCCISD; Jeff Iler, 23 years with the district; Candy Kovalcik, 28 years at GCCISD; Terri Peterson (White) Malone, 40 years in the district and 41 in education; Sandy Martin, 25 years with GCCISD; Karen McGlothlin, 18 years with the district and 31 years in education; Carol Mitchell, 33 years with GCCISD and Barbara Troxell, 22 years with the district. Retirees were presented with a plaque and a clock. A video honoring the retirees, created by Carrie Pryor-Newman, was shown to highlight their careers.
Before Campus Teachers of the Year were recognized, Dr. Tom Kelchner, director of the Special Education Department, presented the James Becker Thomson Award for Excellence in Special Education to deaf education teacher Erin Stokes from Ashbel Smith Elementary. This is the 41st year the award, sponsored by Dr. Richard Thomson in honor of his brother James, has been presented in GCCISD. Stokes has taught 19 years and has been in GCCISD six years.
Also honored were Belinda Morales, Elementary Bilingual Teacher of the Year from Ashbel Smith Elementary, and Dayna “Michelle” Hix from Peter E. Hyland Center’s Newcomer Academy. Pilar Moreno-Recio, director of the Bilingual/ESL Department, presented them with awards. They will advance to the Houston Area Association for Bilingual Education contest.
Starting with elementary Campus Teachers of the Year, Dr. Melissa Duarte recognized Lizette Austin from Alamo; Amy Henderson from Stephen F. Austin; Kendra Symcox from Dr. Antonio Bañuelos; Sandra Sanchez from James Bowie; Pam Bradford from Carver; Robin Wright from Dr. Johnny T. Clark, Jr. Elementary; Janie Rodriguez from David Crockett; Lisa Rogers from Lorenzo De Zavala; Stephanie Stover from Harlem Elementary; Beverly Gill from Highlands; Crystal Mokhtari from Bonnie P. Hopper; Stacy Romeo from Lamar; Norma D. Garcia from San Jacinto; Dee Doyle from Ashbel Smith, Desirei Sneed from Travis and Deedra Moon from Victoria Walker.
Secondary Campus Teachers of the Year from junior schools were Denise Ross from Baytown Junior, Stacey Mullins from Cedar Bayou Junior, Patricia Authement from Gentry Junior, Nancy Bonds from Highlands Junior and Areasha Hebert from Horace Mann Junior.
Secondary Campus Teachers of the Year from high schools were Sally Black from Goose Creek Memorial, Jennifer Kovalcik from Peter E. Hyland Center, Emily Patrick from IMPACT Early College High School, Kayla Logan from Robert E. Lee, Gala Robinson from POINT Alternative Center, Gina Ham from Ross S. Sterling and Richard Morris from John M. Stuart Career Center.
The highlight of the event was the announcement of District Teachers of the Year. Crystal Mokhtari from Hopper Primary, who has taught 28 years at Hopper, was named District Elementary Teacher of the Year, and Emily Patrick from IMPACT Early College High School, who has taught at Robert E. Lee High School and IMPACT for a total of 12 years, was selected as District Secondary Teacher of the Year. The teachers will advance to the Region 4 Texas Teacher of the Year competition.
Joy Meyers and Kristin Hines from Community Resource Credit Union, a longtime friend to Goose Creek CISD, presented Mokhtari and Patrick with iPads. CRCU also provided the programs for the event.
Following the program, a reception was held in the Commons honoring the retirees and the Teachers of the Year.