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Faculty/Staff
Awards
 Beth
Hubbard, Aldridge Elementary School third grade team leader,
and Patt
Henry, Williams High School Algebra team leader (pictured, l-r),
captured the 2007 Elementary and Secondary Teacher of the Year titles, respectively,
at Plano ISD's Teacher of the Year Gala held in May at Plano Centre. Biographies
of the top 12 Excellence
in Teaching Awardees and photo galleries of the Teacher of the Year breakfast
and gala may be viewed on our Teacher
of the Year website.
Dr. Doug Otto presented his 2007 Superintendent's Service Awards at Plano
ISD’s 42nd Annual Service and Retirement event held in March,
2007. Four exceptional support
staff members were recognized for “going above and beyond
the call of duty.” Among the 55 nominees, winners were Charles
"Chuck" Chiamulera, Haggard Middle School Food & Nutritional
Services manager; Delia "Dee" Garza, Shepard Elementary
School office manager; Dollie Thomas, Human Resources
Department specialist; and Luz Dalia B. Valentin, Sigler
Elementary bilingual teacher assistant. Meet
the winners.
 Plano
ISD Multilingual Education Director Vangie Cortez was honored
as “Educator
of the Year” at Collin County LULAC’s (League of United Latin American
Citizens) 12th Annual Scholarship Banquet in October, 2006. Ms. Cortez has
served for 30 years as a teacher, principal and central office administrator.
Under her leadership in Plano, a dual language program for more than 6,000
English language learners has been implemented.
Plano ISD employees donated a record-breaking nearly $100,000 to the Plano
ISD Education Foundation during its 2007 "Giving from the Heart" employee
contribution campaign. The school district's employees also generously donated
nearly $150,000 to the annual United Way Campaign in the fall of 2006.
Eighteen Plano ISD teachers received awards for outstanding performance
by students at the 2007 Beal Bank Dallas Regional Secondary Science Fair.
Of the 20 teachers
recognized, eighteen were from Plano ISD and included middle school teachers:
Melissa Van Houten, Debbie Epstein and Andrew Copple (Frankford), Eileen Quinn
and
Caryn
Crawshaw (Rice),
Joan Horton (Renner), Kelli Roberts (Robinson), Kathy Pillman and Deborah Johnston
(Schimelpfenig) and Sarah Craig (Wilson); and high school teachers: Ursula
Gross and Cathy Bambenek (Clark), Karen Shepherd (PSHS), Joe Arnett (PWSH),
Laura Biguenet (Jasper), Stephanie Peterson (Shepton), Christie Caldwell (Vines)
and Julie John (Williams).
 Six
Plano ISD teachers earned finalist recognition in the TI Foundation
Innovations in STEM Teaching Awards, recognizing superior Plano ISD
secondary teachers in the subjects of science, technology, engineering and
mathematics (STEM). Of the six finalists, two were announced as winners during
a surprise presentation held at a May, 2007, meeting of the Plano ISD
Board of Trustees. Mary Ellen Sablick, Rice Middle School, and Jennifer Bernabo,
Plano East Senior High School (seated, l-r), each earned $5,000 cash awards
and $5,000 for classroom technology and professional development. Finalists
also included Tracy Ishman, Plano West Senior High School; Mike Coe, Plano
Senior High School; Patrick Sullivan, Carpenter Middle School; and Kelly Brooks,
Williams High School.
Barbara McCain, Plano East Senior High School speech teacher, was named 2006-07
Texas Speech Teacher of the Year by the Texas Speech Teachers
Association. The same year, she was
awarded as Outstanding Speech, Debate and Theatre Educator for the Southwestern
United States (Texas, Colorado and New Mexico) by the National Federation
of State High Schools Association.
The Plano ISD Human Resources Division won two awards at the 2006 American
Society of School Personnel Administrators national conference. The William
L. Hunter - Point of Light Award recognized the school district's making
outstanding contributions through the implementation of innovative and
comprehensive teacher development programs, primarily focused upon strategies
to increase the number of teachers of color in the school district. The
Newsletter Award recognized the "HR Insighter," PISD's electronic
newsletter to principals about HR-related matters.
 Four
staff members from Hunt Elementary School were the recipients of the Down Syndrome
Guild of Dallas' 2006 Outstanding Educators of the Year Award. Pictured (left
to right) with a very special student are Kristi Riddle, speech
language pathologist; Lisa Garner, first grade team leader; Monica
Strickland, special education assistant; and Joseph Garbarini,
special education resource teacher. All were awarded at the Guild's annual
conference in November, 2006.
The Plano ISD Board of Trustees announced in October, 2006, that the district’s
next middle school will be named for current Superintendent of Schools Dr.
Doug Otto. During his 12-year tenure with Plano schools, Dr. Otto has served
with visionary leadership, implementing research-based best practices to close
the achievement gap and promote college readiness. He has excelled as an advocate
for improving state educational legislation, enhancing instructional and administrative
technological capabilities, providing the best facilities and resources for
students and staff and recruiting and retaining exceptional teachers.
The Plano ISD Education Foundation made surprise visits to several schools
in November, 2006, to present $67,000 in 58 grant awards to teachers. Foundation
board members, business volunteers, district administrators and PTA Council
members visited schools to present the grants in "prize patrol" vehicles
provided by Park Place Lexus. Grant
winners are featured on this website.
 Elizabeth “Beth” Andersen
Smith, 30-year Plano Senior High School German teacher, was recognized
in 2006-07 by the American Association of Teachers of German as
Outstanding German Educator of the Year and inducted as an Honorary Member
in the Texas
Foreign Language Association.
Veteran Educator Marilyn Brooks was honored in 2006 by Altrusa, Inc., with
its "Outstanding Women of Today...Builder of Tomorrow" Award. She
was also honored in 2007 by the Organization of American Kodály Educators
with the Outstanding Administrator Award for her contributions in support of
music education. Ms. Brooks retired in 2007 following 40 years of service as
a Plano ISD teacher, counselor, principal and district administrator.
 Kathy
Letchworth, Frankford Middle School mathematics teacher, was selected
among three state finalists for the 2006 Presidential Awards for Excellence
in Mathematics and Science Teaching, the nation’s highest honor for
k-12 teaching in these fields.
Daffron
Elementary School students, faculty, staff and parents paid tribute to Linda
Irving on May 16, dedicating a school garden and adjoining bench to
their late teacher, colleague and friend who was voted 2006-07 Teacher of
the Year by the staff. The memorial ceremony included readings, songs and a
moment
of silence.
Larry Tucker, Executive Director of Fine Arts and Special Academic Services
(retired 2007) was named Outstanding Administrator of the Year by the Texas
Music Administrators Conference for his dedication to music administration.
He joined Plano ISD as the first band director at Plano East Senior High School
and later moved to central office to oversee fine arts and other curricular
programs.
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