Print This

Chávez, Love, Milby Teachers Win Awards at Recognition Banquet

Chávez High School teacher Parker Cragg (second from left) was the winner of the Jaycees Outstanding Young Educator Award for 2009. With him are (L–R): Chief Academic Officer Karen Garza; Kyle Carter, chairman of the Houston Jaycees OYE Selection Committee; Carmen Arrietta, a representative from Ignite Managing Director Kevin Cuneo’s office, and Board of Education President Larry Marshall

Milby High School speech teacher Valkeith Winters (third from left) was the recipient of the Elizabeth Brand Memorial Award for 2009. With him are (L–R): Chief Academic Officer Karen Garza, Stephanie Sullivan of the Houston Association of Professional Landmen, and Board of Education President Larry Marshall.

Love Elementary School teacher Susan Ankar (third from left) was the recipient of the 2009 Emily Scott Evans Award. With her are (L–R): Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Tracy Weeden, Chief Academic Officer Karen Garza, and Board of Education President Larry Marshall.

Each year, HISD recognizes its top two educators as the elementary and secondary Teachers of the Year during the annual Teacher Recognition Banquet.

But that event also includes the naming of the winners of three special awards: the Outstanding Young Educator Award, the Elizabeth Brand Memorial Award, and the Emily Scott Evans Award. The honorees for 2009 were announced at the banquet held May 11 in the George R. Brown Convention Center.

Sponsored by the Houston Jaycees and created more than 30 years ago, the Outstanding Young Educator Award recognizes an outstanding elementary- or secondary-school teacher between the ages of 21 and 39. Winners are chosen for their unique teaching strategies and outstanding community involvement. This year’s winner is Parker Cragg, who teaches English at Chávez High School. Chávez’s 2009 Teacher of the Year, he has been an active participant in his church’s youth group since the seventh grade. Cragg has also served as an adult counselor, programming advisor, Sunday school teacher, and youth mentor, and he hosts regular weekend workshops throughout the school year for at-risk middle-school students. The award included $1,000 in cash contributed by Ignite Managing Director Kevin Cuneo.

Landmen deal with the business side of oil, gas, and mineral exploration and production, and for more than 20 years the Houston Association of Professional Landmen has presented an award in honor of Elizabeth Brand, a former teacher. The winner of the 2009 Elizabeth Brand Memorial Award, which recognizes outstanding teaching performance and all-around personal development, is Valkeith Winters. He teaches public speaking at Milby High School, where he was named its 2009 Teacher of the Year. Winters has also been named Outstanding Band Director (2008) and Outstanding Dance Director (2005), and he received Shell’s Excellence Award in 2008.

The 2009 winner of the Emily Scott Evans Award is Susan Ankar, who teaches at Love Elementary School. Love’s Teacher of the Year in 2009, she was inspired to become a teacher after serving as a camp counselor for at-risk youth and realizing that she enjoyed working with children. The Evans Award honors third-grade teachers who make students excited about learning and respectful of peers and adults, and it includes a $1,500 cash prize.

Click here to read more about the 2009 elementary and secondary Teachers of the Year.