JISD honors teachers, employees of year; safety awards received

The JISD Safety Committee, from left, are Mark Turney, Lana Starkey, Troy Parker, Tommy Wade and Clay Carter. The committee was recognized for its safety policies by Claims Administrative Services during the past school year.

The 2019-20 Teachers of the Year, along with district's Employees of the Year, recently were recognized by the Jacksonville ISD school board.

Campus administrators and members of the Education Foundation Board made surprise visits to the district's various campuses Feb. 3 to present the awards.

Campus Teachers of the Year are voted on by each campus staff, then a committee of retired principals, educators and administrators spend two days observing the nominees in their classrooms, according to a JISD release.

Yesenia Zavala-Garcia, a fourth-grade bilingual instructor at West Side Elementary was named the Elementary Teacher of the Year. She began working at the West Side campus in 2008 as a night janitor while pursuing degrees at Tyler Junior College and UT Tyler. In 2013, she became a member of the West Side teaching staff.

Meanwhile, Jacksonville High School Audio/Video/Media Production instructor Lee Traylor was named the JISD Secondary Teacher of the Year.

Their names will be submitted in the Regional Teacher of the Year competition in June, the release stated.

Teacher of the Year at other campuses include:

• East Side Elementary – Karla Munoz, fourth grade dual language/bilingual;

• Fred Douglass Elementary – Hannah McCown, first grade, dual language;

• Joe Wright Elementary – Veronica Mireles, fourth grade dual language/bilingual;

• Nichols Intermediate – Amy Murphy, fifth grade math;

• Jacksonville Middle School – Rhonda Norman-Jones, career exploration; and

• Compass Center – Kerri Antes, science.

The JISD Employees of the year are nominated by staff members for three categories, with winners selected by a committee.

This year's Employees of the Year are:

• Para-professional of the Year – Yessenia Hernandez, East Side Elementary, Pre-K bilingual;

Auxiliary Employee of the Year – Kim Chandler, West Side Elementary, cafeteria manager; and

Non-Teaching Professional of the Year – Sarah Stephens, JHS, college and career advisor.

During a Feb. 17 school board meeting, the district's Safety Committee was recognized by Dr. Chad Kelly, superintendent, for receiving two safety awards from Claims Administrative Services for the 2018-19 school year.

The Billy Hibbs Safety Award for Lowest Loss Ratio and the Billy Hibbs Award for Best 3 Year Loss Ratio honors come with $1,000 in scholarship money to be provided to deserving JISD graduates this May, according to the release.

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