Recipients of Awards Presented at ATPE Convention

2009-10 Educator of the Year Award Recipients

Robert Fleming, principal
West Elementary, West ISD

As a principal, Fleming is inspired by his role models—the principals of the schools he attended as a child and the schools where he worked as a teacher. He starts each day by visiting classrooms and greeting students and teachers; he ends each day by checking take-home folders and seeing that students board the bus safely to go home. “My first priority every day is to make everyone feel safe,” Fleming says. “I once heard one of my principals say, ‘Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right thing.’”

Finalist: Conrado Garcia, Corpus Christi ISD
 

Sara Elms, Life Skills educational aide
Jefferson Junior High, Jefferson ISD

Elms knew that a “sensory room” would benefit her special needs students, but the cost of purchasing ready-made items for such a room was out of the question. So she set about to make her own. She painted ceiling tiles black, worked with a legally blind student to sew blackout curtains, and acquired lights and a beanbag chair. The total cost: less than $300. “My students light up my world in a way I never would have imagined,” Elms says.

Finalists: Darlene Kelly, Ballinger ISD, and Kathy Spencer, Willis ISD
 

Candy Savoy, fourth-grade math, science and social studies teacher
Meador Elementary, Willis ISD

In addition to teaching her students, Savoy serves as a “Trainer of Teachers in Math” for her campus. She researches and suggests manipulatives the campus can purchase to help students be more successful in math and science. In addition to demonstrating manipulative use, she holds monthly meetings with colleagues to share activities for use at centers or to accompany lesson concepts. “I have been a strong proponent of the hands-on approach for my entire career,” Savoy says. “Real-world connections in the classroom help students apply their knowledge in their everyday lives.”

Finalists: Sherry Alling, Willis ISD, and Patricia Clos, Lufkin ISD
 

Sonia Adriana Noyola, government, economics and AVID teacher
Collegiate High School, Corpus Christi ISD

Noyola says educators must have the ability to “L.A.U.G.H.” with their students. That stands for “Love, Achieve, Understand, Give and Honor.” A teacher must have an inner passion for her subject matter and for her students’ overall success, Noyola says. “These L.A.U.G.H.s lead to learning in the classroom and a connection beyond the classroom that lasts for years—and that is what outstanding teaching is all about.” Noyola prides herself on the number of her former students (some from other campuses) who have visited her current classroom to assist with field trips and service projects and offer college advice.

Finalists: Deborah Bellew, Irving ISD, and Brenton Vrla, Ennis ISD
 

Doug Valentine, librarian
McKillop Elementary, Melissa ISD

Valentine is known as “Dr. Loopy” to the students and teachers across the country who view his videos on the website TeacherTube. Dr. Loopy and friends (Valentine’s wife, ATPE member Karen Rose, and their dog) have 110 videos with more than 650,000 hits on TeacherTube and other sites. The first Dr. Loopy videos were about science, but Valentine has since expanded his content to include math, reading, technology, black history and professional development, and he has been able to record videos starring students. “What amuses my students today is technology,” Valentine says. “They ‘live’ in cyberspace. That is where I must go to meet them.”

Finalists: Ron Fitzwater, Alvin ISD, and Connie Kilday, Irving ISD