JISD honors Employees of the Year
Apr. 29—JISD administrators and Jacksonville Education Foundation members boarded a bus and toured the district Wednesday morning, April 28, presenting Employee of the Year and campus Teacher of the Year awards.
Employees of the Year were nominated in three categories including Paraprofessional, Auxiliary and Non-Teaching Professional.
Each received a plaque specifying their distinction, $500 from the district and $500 from the Jacksonville Education Foundation.
Para-Professional staff include secretaries, office support staff, clerks, administrative assistants and classroom, library and nurse aides.
Jennifer Gilbert, serving as a nurse's aide in the Jacksonville High School clinic, was named 2021 Paraprofessional Employee of the Year. She took over during the coronavirus pandemic while the registered nurses were out on maternity leave and has been a tremendous asset to the Health Services Department, according to the district.
Auxiliary employees include custodians, maintenance workers, bus drivers, food service staff and warehouse staff.
This year's winner of the Auxiliary Employee of the Month is Floyd Jones of Nichols Intermediate. A longtime employee of the district, Jones received multiple complementary nominations from his campus.
Non-Teaching professionals include administrators, counselors, diagnosticians, nurses, technology services, instructional strategists, police officers, strategists and math/reading coaches and librarians.
Holly Sanson was chosen from this broad group and named Non-Teaching Professional Employee of the Year. Sanson if Fred Douglass ELA Coach and was recommended by nearly everyone on the Fred Douglass campus.
Each campus within the district selects its own Teacher of the Year who receives $50 from the Jacksonville Education Foundation and a plaque to commemorate the honor.
East Side's Teacher of the Year award, voted on unanimously by her co-workers, was Holly Fults, a kindergarten teacher of seven years who passed away in January of this year. Her family accepted on her behalf and the money awarded will be placed into a scholarship fund established in her name.
The winner at Fred Douglass is third-grade teacher Melissa Stovall, a 14 year educational veteran who has spent her entire career with JISD.
Joy Wright chose Rebecca Tapia as their honoree. She teaches first grade bilingual and has been with the district six of her 11 years in education.
Ashley Roberts, a pre-kindergarten teacher, earned the designation at West Side. She has spent her five-year career at JISD.
The winner of the distinction at Nichols Intermediate is Allie Melton, a sixth-grade ELA teacher who has spent five of her eight years in education with JISD.
Jacksonville Middle School's Kristen Thibodeaux, an eighth-grade ELA teacher in her fourth year of teaching, was awarded the honor.
At the Compass/Empowerment Academy, Angela Russell was named Teacher of the Year. Russell, who has spent the last seven years of her 13-year career at JISD, was instrumental in establishing the Night School program at JHS for credit recovery and is valuable in the graduation of hundreds of students earning a high school diploma from the Empowerment Academy.
Jan Gowin, a 47-year educational veteran, teaches biology and can properly be referred to as a JHS legend. She is considered one of the best Pre-AP and AP Biology teachers in the state. Hundreds of student have launched successful medical or research careers after completing a course under her instruction.
Finally, selected from the campus Teachers of the Year are the Secondary and Elementary Teachers of the Year. These two individuals are chosen by an anonymous committee of retired school personnel. The winners are submitted to the Region 7 Teacher of the Year competition. Additionally, they receive $500 from both the Jacksonville Education Foundation and JISD.
The Elementary Teacher of the Year is Melisssa Stovall of Fred Douglass Elementary and the Secondary Teacher of the Year is Angela Russell of the Compass/Empowerment Academy.
Jacksonville High School audio/visual students participated in the tour, capturing the surprised reactions of recipients. A video of the presentations will be delivered to district trustees for viewing at the May meeting of the board.
