TCEA helps recognize Texas Teachers of the Year

TCEA Executive Director Ron Cravey attended the Texas Education Agency’s Teacher of the Year Awards ceremony in November to present the winners with complimentary registrations to the TCEA annual convention in February. TCEA is one of the sponsors of the Teachers of the Year awards.

For the second year in a row, teachers from the Ysleta and Keller school districts were named the Texas Teachers of the Year by TEA. Paul Cain, a mathematics and physics teacher at Ysleta High School in Ysleta ISD, was named the 2008 Texas Secondary Teacher of the Year.  Cain is a 31-year veteran teacher.

Cain helped create a mentoring system so that new teachers have someone to turn to when they need advice or help. During his 18 years as chair of the mathematics department, he made sure that new teachers are given mentors who teach at least one of the same classes as the novice educators and have the same conference period as the new teachers.

“Students already know their problem areas and often are unaware of any strengths they might have. It is our job as teachers to find those strengths, point them out to the students and use them to motivate students to participate in the learning process,” Cain said.

Grant Simpson, a fourth-grade teacher at Hidden Lakes Elementary School in Keller ISD in Fort Worth, was named the 2008 Texas Elementary Teacher of the Year.

Simpson works to create a safe and supportive haven for his fourth-grade students. “One of my goals every year is to develop a family or community atmosphere in our room,” he said. He creates a huge community calendar in which the students post their activities such as sports events, choir concerts, church events, and more.

His goal is to develop a “relationship-driven classroom” and to connect with students on a personal level. “I make a promise to each one who brings a schedule that I will attend at least one of their functions.” So he and his wife, who uses the same calendar concept in her third-grade class, can often be found roaming football fields, auditoriums and churches to watch their students perform.  

The state winners, as well as the regional Teachers of the Year, were honored at a  luncheon on Nov. 3 at the Sheraton Austin Hotel. The state’s top two educators received a cash prize of $5,000, a technology package worth an estimated $15,000, and a trophy.

The Texas Teacher of the Year is sponsored by the Texas Education Agency. The program is supported by long-time sponsors AT&T, H-E-B, the SMARTer Kids Foundation, and the state’s major education associations, including TCEA. Texas has recognized teachers of the year annually since 1969.