No lemons in the Limelight: Pick of Abilene ISD teachers for 2022 honored

The Teachers in the Limelight awards program expanded by 25% this year, perhaps keeping up with inflation.

Two awards were added — for a coach and a counselor — to bring the total to eight. These men and women in the Abilene ISD were honored Wednesday evening at a banquet, two days after the top 58 students in the district were honored for academic excellence.

"This feels much more normal," AISD Superintendent David Young said, giving closing remarks after the educators were honored. Like other annual events, this one took its lumps the past two years due to pandemic concerns.

But a sizeable group filled the Abilene Convention Center to celebrate teachers at the Abilene Education Foundation event. Campus principals also attended.

The best of 2022

Teacher retention has become an issue, but video presentations showed the dedication of the 38 nominees and the winners.

A 25-minute video showcased nominees in their classroom setting.

Teachers honored with the top awards were:

► Fine Arts: Cara Naizer, choral director, Cooper High

Students need encouragement, she said in her video. Teaching is about putting them first; if not, "you need to rethink what you're doing."

► Elementary: Terry Graham, music ed, Taylor Elementary

She said "kids are limited only by by what they don't know." She never dreamed she'd become a teacher but a shy fifth-grader told her "I can't imagine you doing anything else."

► Secondary: Cheryl Barber, family and consumer science, Cooper High

"Failure is a step toward more success," she said. She turned to teaching as a single mom with four children. "seeing student growth is so much fun," she said.

► Math: Kristin Summerlin, Madison Middle

She holds her students accountable but tells them "it is OK to fail." The most important part is the next step - getting up again and helping others do so. She champions the underdogs because she was one herself.

► Science: Karen Cluck, Holland Medical High School

She did not immediately enter teaching, coming to the AISD as a microbiologist at Hendrick Health. She said her room is a "safe place" for students and if that is created, "the learning just happens naturally."

► J.B. and Winnie Gibbs Award:

Coach: Josh Alcorn, coach and social studies, Cooper High

He has emphasized the expectation of character to his students, he said.

Counselor: Cathy Hillin, Madison Middle

Her professional journey began in the legal field and included 14 years in the classroom at Bonham before she continued her education to become a counselor, back at Bonham and now at Madison.

► Future Shapers Award: Madison McKillip, 5th grade, Austin Elementary, and Seth Pace, English, Abilene High

"My favorite thing is kids," McKillip said, adding she learns just as much from them as they do from her. They need to know "someone loves them and is rooting for them."

Pace said his biggest joy is seeing "a light go on in their eyes" when a student gets it. One goal he has is to encourage "calm, intelligent conversation" even when viewpoints differ. He calls his role as teacher "my ministry, my mission."

Summerlin's video was especially touching. Her family has adopted a former student who she believed was in a precarious situation beyond the campus. Iyanna Summerlin now is a junior at Cooper High.

No, not $200,000

Emcee Patrick Clancy, treasurer of the foundation board, had a lot of script to read. But he also provided breaks of humor, introducing Young: "And the superintendent of the year is ..."

He also "misspoke," saying campus nominees would receive a check for $200,000. He look at his notes again and corrected himself - it would be $200. Many in the crowd groaned but smiled at the humor.

On a serious note, Clancy, the son of a high school biology teacher, told the group, "Never forget you are making a difference in the lives of a child day after day."

Students will remember the good teachers in their lives, he said, "and the good ones are here tonight."

Young echoed that but added many more fill roles at the district's campuses.

Pace, who teaches at the high school level, said the goal of a teacher "is to become obsolete." He wants to see students "move on and not need me anymore. They should be better off."

Other teachers, especially at the elementary level, noted they treasure lasting connections with students, and are interested in keeping up with their students.

Show them the money

Graham, the elementary teacher of the year, and Pace, the secondary teacher, each received $1,300.

They will represent the Abilene ISD in the Region 14 competition for teacher of the year. Those winners will move on to state competition.

Teacher, math and science honorees got $1,000.

These cash awards were on top of campus earnings of $200.

The coach and counselor honorees received a $500 check.

Naizer, the fine arts winner who is retiring after 28 years in public school education received a $1,500 check and a season subscription to the Abilene Philharmonic.

The two Future Shaper winners received vouchers for $2,000 worth of travel.

Awards began in 2013 with elementary and secondary teachers of the year. Other categories have been added, two since last spring.

Several teachers nominated this year were previous winners: Jessi Spitler (2019) and Cluck (2017), science; and Stephanie Angell (2021), Laurie Harris (2020) and Amy Arick (2014), math.

Greg Jaklewicz is editor of the Abilene Reporter-News and general columnist. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com.

The nominees

Here are the teachers nominated for Abilene Education Foundation Teachers in the Limelight awards for 2022:

ELEMENTARY

Alcorta: Sharon Gilley, PE

Austin: Madison McKillip, 5th grade

Bassetti: Taylor Kohler, prior elementary teacher and now instructional coordinator

Bonham: Alicia Luna, kindergarten

Bowie: Hailee Scheirer, 1st grade

Dyess: Paige Daugherty, 3rd grade

Martinez: Lela Brister, 2nd grade

Long Early Childhood: Patsy Rodriquez, Early Head Start

Ortiz: Ivana Bailey, 5th Grade (bilingual)

Purcell: David Ahlschwede, 5th grade

Stafford: Jana Walker, 4th grade

Taylor: Terry Graham, music ed (winner)

Thomas: Amy Hess, 3rd grade

Ward: Connie Darden, 4th grade

SECONDARY

Abilene High: Les Bruce, criminal justice, and Seth Pace, English

ATEMS: Taylor Claxton, math

Clack Middle: Eden Doss, math

Cooper High: Michael Bacon, coach and special ed resource, and Cheryl Barber, family and consumer science (winner)

Craig Middle: Carlos Montz, math

Holland Medical High: Holley Davilla, health science

Madison Middle: Micah Neatherlin, English language arts

Mann Middle: Scott Bishop, PE

SCIENCE

Abilene High: Megan Butler

Cooper High: Kimberlee Keith and Ashley Kozora and Jessi Spitler

Holland Medical High: Karen Cluck (winner)

MATH

Abilene High: Laurie Harris

ATEMS: Stephanie Angell

Cooper High: Katie Appleton and Brianna Powell

Craig Middle: Amy Arick

Madison Middle: Kristin Summerlin (winner)

COUNSELOR

Cathy Hillin, Madison Middle

COACH

Josh Alcorn, Cooper High

FINE ARTS

Cara Naizer, Cooper High

FUTURE SHAPERS

Madison, Austin Elementary, and Gilley, Alcorta Elementary

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: No lemons in the Limelight: Pick of AISD teachers for 2022 honored