Two Borger ISD Educators to be Honored at Region 16
Since 1969, the Texas Teacher
of the Year Program (TOY) has honored excellence in classroom education and
provided a forum to showcase many outstanding educators whose efforts and
example have inspired their students, their colleagues, and the communities they
serve. Texas Teacher of the Year is the highest honor that the State of
Texas can bestow upon a teacher. Facilitated by the Texas Association of
School Administrators, the Texas Teacher of the Year Program annually
recognizes and rewards teachers who have demonstrated outstanding leadership
and excellence in teaching.
Every fall, 40 Regional
Teachers of the Year are selected -- one elementary and one secondary teacher
from each of the 20 Education Service Center regions in Texas. Six
finalists are then chosen from among the 40 semi-finalists.
Following an interview
process, the Texas Elementary Teacher of the Year and Texas Secondary Teacher
of the Year are chosen from among the six finalists. One is selected to
represent the state in the National Teacher of the Year program.
Borger ISD would like to
congratulate their two District Nominees, Lisa Cole, Elementary Teacher of the
Year 2021 Nominee, and Amy Earles, Secondary Teacher of the Year 2021
Nominee. Cole and Earles were selected by an Administrative
Committee.
Lisa Cole has
been a 1st-grade teacher at Gateway Elementary for 8 years. This
past school year, Ms. Cole taught remote 1st graders. She provided students
with an environment of learning as if they were sitting at the tables in her
classroom. She has spent many hours with each student reading with them,
covering math objectives and so much more. Ms. Cole has been an asset on campus
by providing time for other remote teachers to come to observe her setup and
process for meeting with students. She has invested so much time to ensure
every meticulous detail and all materials students will need are labeled and
ready for each week. Ms. Cole has also provided instruction for any student who
went into quarantine and worked closely with other classroom teachers to ensure
they returned to class without any time lost. She has interacted with almost 50
different students throughout this year and each one has received the same
amount of attention and care. Ms. Cole has made a connection to her learners
that most would not think would be possible being remote. She also has made
sure students were able to participate in school events such as pictures and
class parties all while respecting and adhering to social distancing
guidelines. Ms. Cole did a reading challenge where her class read a total of
almost 1,300 books! Gateway Principal James Russell stated, “I am truly blown
away at the magnitude of learning happening in her online classroom, and to say
she has gone above and beyond is an understatement. I am proud to say that Lisa
Cole is a Borger ISD teacher, but take more pride that she represents Gateway
Elementary!”
Mrs. Earles has been a master
teacher at Borger Middle School for 15 years.
She has been on top of things
from the get-go this year and has done an amazing job being a positive force on
campus to students and staff. Every day in her classroom her students are
diligently working hard, having great academic conversations, and doing high-level
group/independent work. Her dedicated
instruction shows as her data has increased every single 6 weeks. Her students
love being in her class because she has built such strong relationships with
them and they definitely aim to please her with their hard work. Borger Middle
School Principal Brandon Harris states, “Mrs. Earles has been an absolute ROCK
this year in a time of crazy uncertainty with Covid and all of the weekly
changes that came with it. BMS is the best campus because we have a rock star
like her on our team! We LOVE her and appreciate everything she
does for us!”