To honor teaching in the El Dorado School District, winners and awardees were recognized in the El Dorado Education Foundation (EDEF) 23rd Teacher Excellence Awards program, sponsored by Murphy USA.
Selected by a judging committee from Southern Arkansas University (SAU) in Magnolia were three winners: Megan Koonce, Hugh Goodwin K-4th Special Education; Lisa Hooks, Barton 7th grade Math; and Ashlee Curtis, Head Girls’ Varsity Basketball Coach/9-12th Physical Education. The ceremony was held at the El Dorado High School (EHS) Performing Arts Center, at 2:30 PM, on Friday, May 27,
"Murphy USA is grateful to have the opportunity to sponsor the EDEF Teacher Excellence Awards again this year to highlight the wonderful teachers of the El Dorado School District and show appreciation for the time, energy and care they pour into our students,” stated Courtney Crotty, Supervisor of Philanthropy and Community Relations, Murphy USA.
“We remain committed to supporting and empowering our teachers as they continue to provide an excellent education experience for all children,” she added. “This school year continued to present unprecedented challenges, and these teachers once again rose to the challenges and tackled them head-on. Congratulations to all of our teachers, our semifinalists, and finalists, and to our winners. Murphy USA is proud to stand with each of you!”
Mrs. Koonce, the Outstanding Educator elementary level recipient, is recognized by all – parents, students, and peers. A parent shared that this recipient is “knowledgeable, extremely patient, and passionate about helping students”. Another noted that she “teaches with enthusiasm. She finds ways to keep learning engaging. She can take any objective and turn it into an exciting lesson.” Students have stated that they do not want to let her down. They find a love of learning because of her passion. A co-worker shared, “We are so thankful for Mrs. Koonce’s knowledge and the skills that she brings. We all go to her for special education questions as well as ideas to help meet students’ needs. We all strive to be more like Mrs. Koonce!”
This year’s middle/junior high school Outstanding Educator, Mrs. Hooks, teaches general math, Pre-AP math, and dance. A co-worker wrote, “She is absolutely one of the hardest-working people that I know. She is great in the classroom when teaching concepts.” A student said, “She is a wonderful good-hearted woman and wants the best for everyone.” For her students, she strives to find fun and nontraditional approaches to help them achieve milestones beyond their own expectations. She shared this about teaching, “No matter what level or what position I have been in or will be in, I want students to want to come to class. I love to hear them say, ‘I’m home' when they walk in the door.”
Mrs. Curtis, the high school Outstanding Educator, is well-respected as a leader. A co-worker stated, “She has the most positive impact of any teacher I know. She is 100% all about the students. She is the reason many students come to school.” A student exclaimed, “She puts her all into everything.” Mrs. Curtis believes that teachers must make meaningful connections, so she checks in each week, with every student. She highlights different ways of learning, involving the active input and involvement of her class, often using nontraditional means. Her encouraging approaches also motivate students to achieve outside their comfort zones. One student remarked, “I am only doing this for you.”
Left to Right: Don Miller, Senior Manager, Murphy USA; Lisa Hooks, Middle/Junior High Outstanding Educator of the Year; Megan Koonce, Elementary Outstanding Educator of the Year; Ashlee Curtis, High School Outstanding Educator of the Year; Courtney Crotty, Supervisor of Philanthropy and Community Relations, Murphy USA.
The EDEF Teacher Excellence Awards program recognizes excellence in the El Dorado School District. It accepted nominees for outstanding teaching from parents, grandparents, guardians, students, former students, the public, and other teachers. At each school, certified staff voted for 15 semifinalists - one from each elementary school, three each from the middle school and junior high, and six from EHS. Semifinalists proceeded to written applications, critiqued by a judging panel from Southern Arkansas University (SAU), narrowing the field to nine finalists. Judges visited semifinalists in classrooms to observe teaching and interactions with students. Three winners – Outstanding Elementary, Outstanding Middle/Junior High School, and Outstanding High School teachers – were chosen by the panel. All semifinalists, finalists, and winners received recognition, plus monetary awards.
The 15 semifinalists were – Elementary: Megan Koonce of Hugh Goodwin, Cristal Childress of Northwest, and Alie Shepherd of Yocum. Middle/Junior High: Melissa Upchurch, Evelyn Escamilla, and Ashley Johnson of Washington; and Lisa Hooks, Alexis Simmons-King, and Bailey Camacho of Barton. High School: LaPorsha Carter, Shelly Childers, Aprile Richardson, Molly Rottman, Jackie Phillips, and Ashlee Curtis, of EHS.
The nine finalists were – Elementary School: Megan Koonce of Hugh Goodwin; Cristal Childress of Northwest, and Alie Shepherd of Yocum. Middle/Junior High School: Lisa Hooks, Alexis Simmons-King, and Bailey Camacho of Barton. High School: Aprile Richardson, Jackie Phillips, and Ashlee Curtis of EHS.
The nominees were: Hugh Goodwin: Kimberly Alexander, Billy Blackburn, Carmen Clark, Joan Cunningham, Margaret Cupp, Veronica Curley, Kristen Davis, Olivia Fitzgerald, Brigitte Haney, Hannah Hodge, Missy Inman, Megan Koonce, Cristina Lee, Amy Lester, Allison Lockwood, Michelle Lyons, Angela Margis, Brittany Mullenax, Brooklyn Nesbitt, Lara Robbins, Chianti Roberson, and Claudia Stevenson.
Northwest: Darla Bailey, Julie Baker, Hannah Brockwell, Cristal Childress, Christy Cranford, Stacey Fairris, Amy Fulco, Skylee Hogan, Cara Jobe, Aime Johnson, Mandy Kingery, Melanie Martin, Janna Moree, Holly Morgan, Brooklyn Sanchez, Marianna Sartain, Linda Trostle, Cindy Walton, Amy Welch, and Crystal Wells.
Yocum: Zach Anders, Dana Ayres, Leanne Barnett, Lauren Dailey, Jamie Fife, Kamara George, Chrystal Gilkey, Makayla Green, Stacy Gulick, Leia Hickmott, Haley Holeman, Jonathan Holland, Kim Ibert, Melissa Laird, Felicie Lamoreux, Sandy McDill, Shemekia Morgan, Lacey Miller, Imani Moore, Taylor Nelson, Casey Orr, Brittney Outlaw, Daniela Rivas, Gregory Roberson, Britni Robinson, Alie Shepherd, Brooke Sneed, Amber Welch, and Timmy Williams.
Washington: Brinkley Ashcraft, Alyssa Avant, Breanna Braswell, Mydeana Bridges, Courtney Canady, Jesse Edge, Evelyn Escamilla, Chris Ezell, Rachael Gavin, Deborah Guevara, Shane Hemme, Sonya Hicks, Ashley Johnson, Ethan Kelton, Andrew McDaniel, Alexander Michaels, Sarika Mohandas, Haley Moore, Corin Rainey, Sheila Russell, Chris Rynders, Shamonne Session, Dorinda Stephens, Katie Taylor, Christina Turner, Melissa Upchurch, Willow Waggoner, Tara Watts, and Lori Wilcox.
Barton: Jeremy Atwell, Natalie Bolick, Bailey Camacho, Jamie Cupples, Hannah Davis, Derek Easter, Whitney Frazier, Misty Freeman, Jessica Glass, Calum Graham, Samantha Guzman, Jonathan Hetrick, Jonathan Hicks, Mary Hodnett, Tyler Hodnett, Lisa Hooks, Heather Jennings, Carson Keith, Robert Kersh, Joshua Kingery, Adrian Knapper, Billy Major, Emily Manning, Tammy McCloy, Breanna McKnight, Hayden Nooner, Amber Reynolds, Danielle Scott, Alexis Simmons-King, and Hannah Traylor.
EHS: Carrie Adams, Carrie Allender, Morgan Atkins, Holly Barnhill, Pate Bauldree, Alyssa Bean, Charlie Blair, Kris Borosvskis, Caroline Callaway, Madison Campbell, LaPorsha Carter, Shelly Childers, Joseph Clark, Ava Collopy, Heather Craig, Lauren Cross, Ashlee Curtis, DeAnthony Curtis, Elcy Easter, Shanice Easter, Kim Evans, Jessica Freeman, Kevia Gill, Isael Gonzalez, Katy Gorden, Katie Harwell, Sarah Hawkins, Candi Jennings, Steven Jones, Joshua Keil, Natalye Leake, Darryl Lewis, Jamie Lowe, Alexandra Marlin, Neville Matthews, Bobbie McClellan, Jennifer McGehee, Bill Meyer, Alexander Michaels, Andy Newman, Jennifer Nutt, Gregory Oden, Angie Parker, Jackie Phillips, Jimmy Porter, Sheri Rankin, Tim Ray, Dana Reep, Aprile Richardson, Savannah Rogers, Molly Rottman, Donnie Tank, Abbey Thomas, Hannah Thomas, Ginger Welch, David Weser, Grace Wolfe, and Lauren Yaksic.