08 Apr FISD Secondary Teachers of the Year FISD Elementary Teachers of the Year BY LARRY COKER

Forney ISD recently announced the 2015-2016 Campus Teachers of the Year for all elementary and secondary schools in the district. The announcements were made during the District’s Professional Development Day held on February 15, 2016.

The Forney ISD Campus Teachers of the Year consists of nine elementary school teachers, two middle school teachers, two high school teachers and one teacher from the district’s Forney Academic Center.

This year’s elementary teachers of the year are Karla Maldonado, a fifth and sixth grade Dual Language Reading and Social Studies teacher at Blackburn Elementary. Becky Fischbeck, a third grade teacher at Claybon Elementary; Lisa Hampton, a second grade teacher at Criswell Elementary; Mary Jane Farrow, a fifth grade English Language Arts and Reading teacher at Crosby Elementary; Sherrie Watson, a sixth grade Science teacher at Henderson Elementary; Rebecca Hensley, a fifth grade Math teacher at Johnson Elementary; Elizabeth Kneggs, a Special Education teacher at Lewis Elementary; Leslie Camp, a   fourth grade teacher at Rhea Elementary and Kiala Albright, a fifth grade Science/Social Studies teacher at Smith Elementary.

The Forney ISD Middle School Teachers of the Year are Laura Telschow, a seventh grade Science teacher from Brown Middle School and Catherine Watkins, an eighth grade Science teacher from Warren Middle School.

This year’s high school and Forney Academic Center Teachers of the Year were Kayla Childress, an English Language Arts instructor at Forney High School; Savannah Hollis, a Science teacher at North  Forney High School and Tamyla Hasbrouck, a GOALS teacher at the Forney Academic Center.

The Forney ISD Teachers of the Year have to meet certain criteria to be selected as the teacher of the year for their school. The teacher has to seek to carry out Forney ISD’s vision by “Inspiring Students through Innovative Education,” have a strong sense of values, integrity, and professional ethics; be an exceptional dedicated, knowledgeable, and skilled teacher; inspire students of all backgrounds and abilities to learn; be dedicated  to  providing  the  highest  level of  education  to  all  students;  have  the

respect and admiration of students, and colleagues; have a strong sense of values, integrity, and professional ethics; be energetic, enthusiastic, and have a positive attitude; plan to continue in an active teaching status in FISD; and serve as an instructional role model and leader on the campus.

“We set very high standards for all of our teachers in Forney ISD, so to be named as the very best teacher at a campus is an incredible achievement,” said Suzanne McWilliams, the superintendent of schools for Forney ISD. “We are all very impressed with this year’s campus teachers of the year! They are an outstanding group of exceptional teachers! It will be difficult to name just one District elementary teacher of the year and one secondary teacher of the year!”

All of the campus teachers of the year will meet with a District Elementary and Secondary Teacher of the Year Selection Committee that will select the Forney ISD Elementary Teacher of the Year and a Secondary Teacher of the Year.

The District’s Elementary and Secondary Teachers of the Year was announced at the Forney Area Chamber of Commerce and Forney ISD Community Awards Banquet which was held Thursday, March 31, 2016.