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Fort Bend Independent School DistrictNEWS RELEASE |
** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE **
Fort Bend ISD Names 2009-2010 District Teachers of the Year
FORT BEND ISD - Congratulations to Le Anne Parker of Pecan Grove Elementary School, who was named FBISD Elementary Teacher of the Year, and Willie Yarber of Elkins High School, who was named FBISD Secondary Teacher of the Year at a special awards dinner on April 30.
Le Anne Parker is a 26-year veteran educator and a speech pathologist at Pecan Grove Elementary. She is inspired by her profession by the words of Charles Schulz, the creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip, who said, "The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money or the most awards. They are simply the ones who care the most." Her greatest accomplishments in education are found in working with her students, their families and the teachers she supports. She sincerely hopes to be remembered as one of the ones who "cared the most."
Willie Yarber from Elkins High School has 15 years of teaching experience and teaches AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) classes to ninth- through twelfth-grade students. As an AVID Coordinator for the last five years, Yarber has seen 80 percent of his senior students, many of whom are first-generation college students, attend a four-year college or university immediately after graduation from high school. He believes that teachers are entrusted daily to mold and guide the lives of their students, and said, "Only special people with exceptional talents and extraordinary love need apply" for a position as a teacher.
Congratulations also to the FBISD Teacher of the Year finalists: Elementary Schools -- Terri Whitaker (Brazos Bend Elementary), Tara Dubuisson (Fleming Elementary), Wendy Johnson (Mission Bend Elementary), Connie Hall (Palmer Elementary), and Nneka Beauford (Parks Elementary); Secondary Schools - Troy Drayton (Quail Valley Middle ), Sheila McAninch (Clements High School), Patrick Wallace (Dulles High School), Mary Alegria (Kempner High School) and Linka Pace (Travis High School).
Also honored at the banquet were FBISD's Rookies of the Year: Elementary Schools -- Kimberly Nguyen (Commonwealth Elementary), Dami Folorunsho (Jordan Elementary), Malika Clay (Palmer Elementary); and Secondary Schools -- Melanie Bates (First Colony Middle), Wade Kirkpatrick (Lake Olympia Middle) and Elizabeth Maifski (Elkins High School).
FBISD thanks Houston Baptist University for their contribution to the continuing education of our teachers, as well as the encouragement they offer Rookies to continue to grow as educators. HBU presented a scholarship representing six hours of graduate classes in the HBU College of Education and Behavioral Sciences to both TOY winners, and three hours of graduate classes for the Rookies. The Balfour Company will give the two district TOY winners a special Teacher of the Year ring. Balfour also sponsored a complimentary photograph by Steven Leonard taken for each of the honorees. And finally, the Fort Bend Education Foundation donated Dell laptop computers to the district TOY winners.
Pictured at the Teacher of the Year Dinner from left to right are: FBISD Board President Sonal Bhuchar, 2009 Elementary Teacher of the Year -- Le Anne Parker (Pecan Grove Elementary School), 2009 Secondary Teacher of the Year -- Willie Yarber (Elkins High School) and FBISD Superintendent Dr. Timothy Jenney.
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