By Allan Jamail
May 18, 2023 – The Galena Park School District held their annual awards ceremony in the auditorium of the North Shore High School. There were 140 awardees given recognition for outstanding service and achievements to the district. Various categories of awards were presented by several school administration officials.
Mistress of Ceremonies Terri Moore directed the program agenda and gave the welcoming introductions. The event began with the Pledge of Allegiance to the USA & Texas flags by Dr. David Harris who also gave the Invocation.
Adrian Stephens, President of the District’s Trustees, praised the awardees and gave the attendees a greeting from the Trustees.
Dr. John Moore, Superintendent made the closing remarks. He stressed the importance of the district’s teachers to the lives of their students, and emphasized that what happened here tonight is not some little thing. These teachers and administrators played a vital service to the community. They didn’t just give their students a sound education, but what they really did was prepare them for their future. They taught them how to be productive citizens and a positive influence in the community.
Two awards for principals of the year, Michelle Cavazos & Dr. Christopher Eckford, and two awards for assistant principals of the year, Barika Noris & Alaide Zavala, were given.
Alondria Brooks, Secondary Teacher of the Year; Dr. Joe Colman, Administrator of the Year; Cathleen Ethridge, Support Personnel of the Year; and Nereyda Rojas, Elementary Teacher of the Year; were awarded by the Galena Park Classroom Teachers Association.
Carmela Garcia and Marla Taylor were awarded Campus Educator of the Year by the Association of Texas Professional Educators.
Twenty-six paraprofessionals of the year awards were given to: Jenise Benavides, Merry Bryant, Crystal Casas, Claudia Cervantes, Rosa Contreras, Tina Escalante, Maribel Hernandez, Amy Garza, Gala Brunini Gerez, Dina Gonzalez, Yolanda Gonzalez, Leslie Guajardo, Elizabeth Gusman, Nydia Herrera, Beverly Joseph, Courtney Lane, Paula Leal, Lucia Martinez, Yolanda Olvera, Cynthia Profit, Rosa Rodriguez, Irma Garcia De Saldana, Jacqueline Sanchez, Kendrick Ruben, Lisa Thompson and Sharonda Todd.
Twenty-two rookie teacher of the year awards were given to: Reyna Aguiar, Anayeli Alfaro, James Bell III, Magailie Bouillion, Brenda Canales, Angela Dominguez, Kayla Eber, Amayranni Estrada, Adama Evans, Joseph Figueredo, Naomi Macia, Miryam Marroquin-Lopez, Natalia Martinez, Nathaly Martinez, Patrick Matin, Victoria McMillion, Jacob Montemayor, Adriana Morales, Delia Perez, Christopher Rodriguez, Yaqueline Serrrano and Keyla Valentin.
Twenty-six teacher of the year awards were given to: James Arceneaux, Fre’Drika Aubrey, Tiffany Baldon, Bernadette Bamba, Glenton Beadle, Mary Dale-Craven, Alejandra Cruz, Vonthisha DeFriend, Rachel Estrada, Paola Fernández Cervantes, Du Wayne La Fountain, Camryn Goodman, Whitney Kenney, Kelly Kruzman, Cynthia Luna, Noah Munger, Tonya Murphy, Juan Rangel, Alisha Robinson, Crystal Rosas, Marisol Sanchez, Whitley Savage, Gerardina Torres, Tyneasha Turk, Noelia Vargas and Alicia Woods.
Sixty-two awards for length of time served, Roger Banks, Page Berglan, Erin Bilski, Ruby Bonilla, Allison Campbell, Mary Craven, Angelica Cuellar, Nikkia Eagleton, Deborah Eaton, Lawrence Etienne, Ana Galvan, Celia Gonzales, Jovita Gutierrez, Arlonda Henderson, Mary Hernandez, Angela Hughes, Miroslava Ibarra, Margarita Janice, Janie Lanham, Jose Lerma, Steven Lewis, Tonya Lloyd, Denise Maddux, Rosalinda Ortiz, David Pierson, Maria Ramirez, Thelma Rodriguez, Linda Schoffield, Maria Tamez, Marlon Trent, Danielle Venable, Byron Williams, Rhonda Wright and Martha Yanez.
Sixty-eight district employees retired from various departments.