Charrier, Barnes Named AISD Teachers of the Year

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Jill Charrier, an ESL (English as a Second Language) prekindergarten Head Start teacher at Hinojosa EC/PK Center, won the Elementary/Intermediate Teacher of the Year while the Secondary Teacher of the Year honor went to Karen Barnes, a math teacher at Lewis Middle School.

The other four finalists included Yolanda J. Martínez of García-Leza EC/PK Center, Christy Rangel of Sammons Elementary School, Tanya K. Anderson of Grantham Academy, and Marilyn J. Doyle of MacArthur Senior High School.

In addition to being honored by the school district at a special breakfast held at the Hyatt North Houston Hotel on March 9, a number of North Houston/Greenspoint area businesses recognized the district winners, finalists and campus-level Teachers of the Year.

Charrier, Barnes, the four finalists, and campus-level Teachers of the Year received a number of prizes and gifts. The top two winners each received two roundtrip first-class tickets to travel any destination United Airlines, Inc. flies in the continental United States, Alaska, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, and Central America; a complimentary weekend night stay for two with breakfast at the DoubleTree Hotel Houston Intercontinental, $400 checks from InvestTex Credit Union, two tickets to a regular season game to see the Houston Astros, a $100 gift card to Greenspoint Mall, and a pair of regular season game tickets to see the Houston Rockets (the organization also provided them with a Houston Rockets T-shirt, pencils, bracelet, bam-bams and #1 Foam fingers). The four finalists each received $100 checks from InvestTex Credit Union, two tickets to see a regular season game with the Houston Astros, and a $50 gift card to Greenspoint Mall. And all campus-level Teachers of the Year received a gift pack from Bonfire Wings. Additionally, the Houston Astros provided two tickets to a regular game, which was placed in a random drawing.

Each of the winners shared their teaching philosophies in the event’s program. Charrier wrote, “A great teacher inspires, loves and believes in students. My heart swells with pride for each student. I work to create a secure, supportive, and nurturing environment. I have high expectations for all my students, and I believe that is one of the most important factors of a successful teacher. That means giving students multiple opportunities to grow, setting goals and working with parents to ensure my students’ success.”

Barnes wrote, “Teaching is a calling. Outstanding teachers heed that call and always do what is best for the students. They are advocates for children first and foremost. My duty is to teach them how to think and to motivate them to learn. I help them believe in themselves. My greatest reward of teaching is seeing or hearing students teach each other and when they ask me to move to the next grade level to be their teacher again. These words tell me that I have made a difference in their lives.”

The difficult task of selecting the winners fell to the Teacher of the Year Committee, which was chaired by Carrie Durley, executive director of human resources, and comprised of Tonya Rodríguez, the 2011 Secondary Teacher of the Year representing the Magnet Schools; Tiana Rodríguez from Eisenhower Vertical, Telma González from the Aldine Vertical, Kathleen Flores representing the MacArthur Vertical, Adrián Torres, the 2011 Elementary/Intermediate Teacher of the Year representing the Nimitz Vertical; and Margarita Byrum, director of human resources and co-chair of the Teacher of the Year Committee.

A hearty congratulations to all!

Click here to view each campus teacher of the year and to read their teaching philosophies.