The Channelview Independent School District’s top educators were honored at the 2015 Teachers of the Year and Rising Stars Banquet at Landry’s Restaurant in Kemah on May 28.
Amanda Montemayor from De Zavala Elementary School was named the district’s Elementary Teacher of the Year, while Priscilla Jones from Kolarik Ninth Grade Center was honored as Secondary Teacher of the Year. Both teachers now are in the running to become Region 4 Teacher of the Year and will be recognized at a reception later this summer.
“We are proud to honor these teachers and recognize their creativity and ability to reach students’ minds in a special way,” said Greg Ollis, Channelview ISD superintendent.
The event was sponsored by Tubular Services, LLC, Woodforest National Bank, Gulf Coast Educators Federal Credit Union and Perdue Brandon Fielder Collins and Mott LLP, Attorneys at Law.
The event sponsors rewarded the teachers’ efforts at the banquet as Montemayor and Jones both received $500, a large inscribed plaque and an iPad Air with cases, donated by the Channelview ISD Education Foundation. In addition, the sponsors help provide all of the Campus Teachers of the Year and first-year Rising Star Teachers of the Year $100 and star-shaped trophies for their outstanding efforts.
“Our sponsors are some very special people,” Ollis said. “We appreciate the generosity they have shown by recognizing the efforts of our teachers as they shape tomorrow’s leaders.”
Montemayor has taught for the district for eight years at De Zavala, where she serves as a bilingual Kindergarten teacher at De Zavala. She earned her bachelor’sdegreefromthe University of HoustonClear Lake. Before she became a teacher, she served as a Reading Lab aide at Crenshaw Elementary from 2002-2007.
Jones, a 16-year teaching veteran, is completing her third year as an Alge-
bra teacher at Kolarik. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston-Central Campus and her master’s in Education from Houston Baptist University.
Campus Teachers of the Year that were recognized included Yosheco Lewis (Aguirre Junior High), Dedrell Hobbs (Alice Johnson Junior High), Maria Anaya (Early Childhood Center), Katrina Terrell (Brown Elementary), Fernando Venegas (Campbell Learning Center), Erin Bowman (Channelview High School), Amanda Kennington (Cobb Elementary), Sharon Hines (Crenshaw Elementary), Amanda Montemayor (De Zavala Elementary), Theda Aiken (Hamblen Elementary), Priscilla Jones (Kolarik Ninth Grade Center), Erin Cox (McMullan Elementary) and Derrick Burton (Schochler Elementary).
As a local honor, the district and campuses recognize the “Rising Stars” first-year Teachers of the Year. This year’s “Rising Stars” are Jabari Lockett (Aguirre Junior High), Nathan Cassidy (Alice Johnson Junior High), Irene Cavazos (Early Childhood Center), Amy Kennemer (Brown Elementary), Brent Adams (Campbell Learning Center), Malcolm Lockett (Channelview High School), Gladys Segura (Cobb Elementary), Cinthya Banta (Crenshaw Elementary), Jordan Dillon (De Zavala Elementary), Tysion Smith (Kolarik Ninth Grade Center), Carolyn Mathis (McMullan Elementary) and Maria Castro (Schochler Elementary).
“I am extremely proud of the work our teachers are doing in the classrooms every day,” Ollis. “All of our teachers can take pride in celebrating the successes of the students that pass through their doors.”