Hill Country Middle School has announced its 2018 EANESpiration winners, bestowing the Educational Impact Awards, the Heroes Award, the Innovation Award, and the Good Samaritan Award.
The Educational Impact Awards honor those “who display leadership and commitment to the district by making a positive, noticeable and significant impact.” Recipients include Sharon Burns, Janet McCormick, and Katie Recer. Burns was honored for her work with helping students grow as readers, including with students who are striving to pass the STAAR test. “She works extremely hard and her students show enormous growth because of her hard work. HCMS is lucky to have this valuable resource!” a release from the Eanes Independent School District states. McCormick is valued for helping students perform optimally in a testing environment. She “goes out of her way to make taking a test a less-stressful experience for the students. … She also has come up with some ideas to make the Testing Center run more smoothly and effectively to promote student success. We thank her for all she does!” Recer was honored for helping her students “gain confidence and thrive” through the writing process, as well as helping students interact successfully in general education classrooms. “She is supportive, kind, nurturing, and an Eanespiration to students and colleagues,” said the release.
The Heroes Award honors those “who perform an outstanding achievement that brings prestige to Eanes ISD, or do something that goes above and beyond the call of duty.” Recipients include Christine Jones and Danielle Wiest. Jones was honored for her work planning and coordinating an Eanes ISD middle school track meet that hosted more than 600 students from area schools. “Her leadership skills, organization, and work ethic allowed for the event to be a huge success, while also shining a bright light on Eanes ISD.” Wiest was honored for her dedication to “always put students first.” As a sixth grade counselor, “her ideas in action always have helped bring a better outcome for the students and our team.” The release credited her with a huge success in a difficult student situation.
The Innovation Award honors those “who implement a creative or innovative program, teaching method, cost-savings, etc.” Ingram Milam received this award for organizing a sixth grade Lunch Bunch Book Club. This club inspires almost 20 students per month to “come together around their love for books” and has helped students make new friends, discover a deeper love of reading, and make connections to different parts of the world.
The Good Samaritan Award honors those “who display compassion, selflessness, or courage by taking initiative” and was awarded to Carol Edgar for her relief work for her hometown of Vidor following Hurricane Harvey. Edgar “was passionate about the Vidor ISD children being able to return to school with new or gently used backpacks” and created the “I Got Your Back(pack)!” Campaign drive to donate backpacks, an effort “organized from her heart” that made a difference in the lives of many families.
Photo courtesy Eanes ISD. Left to Right. Principal Kathleen Sullivan, Janet McCormick, Ingram Milam, Carol Edgar, Sharon Burns, Katie Recer, Christine Jones, Deputy Superintendent Dr. Jeff Arnett. Not Pictured: Danielle Wiest