EDUCATORS OF THE YEAR & RETIRING
SUPERINTENDENTS HONORED AT OCT. 25 AWARDS CEREMONY
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WACO, TEXAS — Education Service Center Region
12 honored regional teachers and superintendent
of the year as well as recently retired superintendents
at a special awards ceremony. The awards ceremony
and reception was held at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday,
Oct. 25 at 2101 West Loop 340 in Waco. The Hon. Kip
Averitt, State Senator and Hon. Dianne White Delisi,
State Representative were present to give recognition
and awards. The event was sponsored by ESC Region
12 and AT&T. Debbie Keel, with AT&T was also present to deliver plaques to the teachers.
The 2007 Region 12 Teachers of the
Year are Donna Vardeman in the Primary Division and
Victoria Fletcher in the Secondary Division. Fletcher
was also named one of three finalists for the Texas
Teacher of the Year. The 2006 Region 12 Superintendent
of the Year is Dr. Vivian Baker with Belton ISD.
Baker also qualified as one of the top five finalists
for the Texas Superintendent of the Year.
“We are very proud to have all
of these remarkable educators serving the Region
12 area,” said Dr. Tom Norris, Executive Director
of Region 12. “The time and energy they dedicate
to their students, their peers, and the profession
is truly an inspiration for others to follow.”
The
ceremony also honored the following retired superintendents
who have all served more than 30 years in the field
of education: Glenn Acker, Copperas Cove ISD; Monte
Geren, La Vega ISD; Don Ickles, Lorena ISD; Ronnie
Urbantke, Riesel ISD and Jerry Major, Waco ISD.
About
the Region 12 Teachers of the Year
A panel of representatives
from local teacher and administrator organizations
chose Vardeman and Fletcher on the basis of their
responses to several essay questions on topics such
as their philosophy of teaching, education issues
and trends, and community involvement. As Region
12 Teachers of the Year, they will serve as ambassadors
for public education in Texas through speeches, workshops
and other presentations.
Primary Teacher
of the Year Donna Vardeman has been a teacher
for 18 years, all of which have been with Hubbard
ISD. She has served as a pre-kindergarten teacher/director
for the district since 1992. Prior to that, she
worked as a fourth grade teacher for the district.
Vardeman earned her Master’s
of Elementary Education from Tarleton State University
and a Bachelor’s of Science in Health Education
from Texas A&M University. She also has completed
education coursework at Baylor University. Vardeman
graduated from Hubbard High School.
In addition to
the Region 12 honor, Vardeman is the 2006 Hubbard
ISD Elementary Teacher of the Year and a 2006 HEB
Excellence in Education Nominee. She has also been
named as a Hubbard ISD Teacher of the Month and as
a recipient of the Delta Kappa Gamma Chapter Achievement
Award.
Vardeman serves as a district ESL and
migrant coordinator, new teacher mentor, campus trainer
for structured Teaching Model, district trainer for
many programs and software, committee member for
the District Evaluation Team and as a staff development
coordinator. In addition, she has served as the director
of the Jaguarette Drill Team for the past nine years
and as the statistician for the junior and high school
basketball teams for more than 10 years. She often
coordinates and participates in numerous extracurricular
and community projects, such as supporting and volunteering
for the Tris Speaker Youth Club and helping to raise
$17,000 in a fundraiser to benefit a teacher in need
of a bone-marrow transplant.
One of Vardeman’s
most enjoyable efforts has been to participate in
the student assistance program where high school
students work in her classroom. The program has inspired
many students to pursue careers in education, which
has been very rewarding for the Pre-K teacher to
see.
Vardeman has been a member of the Delta
Kappa Gamma Society International, Gamma Delta Chapter,
since 1992. During this time, she has served on the
State World Fellowship Committee, as Nominations
Chair, Chapter President, Chapter First Vice-President
and Ceremonials Chair.
Vardeman and her husband Mark
have 1 daughter, Callie and reside in Hubbard.
Secondary
Teacher of the Year Victoria Fletcher also has been
teaching for 16 years. At some point in the past
five years, she has taught all junior high and high
school math courses offered at Hubbard ISD. She also
serves as a Master Math Teacher, math coordinator
and girls’ coach. Her coaching assignments
have been girls’ basketball, cross country,
track and volleyball. Before joining Hubbard ISD,
she taught for Penelope ISD and Italy ISD. Fletcher
earned her Bachelor’s of Science degree in
Secondary Education Curriculum and Instruction from
Texas A&M University.
In addition to receiving
the Region 12 honor, Fletcher has been chosen as
a Hubbard ISD Secondary Teacher of the Month and
Year. She has previously been named as Hubbard ISD
Teacher of the Year and as an Honorary Member Teacher
of Penelope FFA. The Hill County native has earned
numerous certifications including Master Math Teacher
(8-12), Secondary Mathematics (6-12), Secondary Science
Composite (8-12), Secondary Social Studies Composite
(8-12), Secondary English Language Arts (6-12), All-Level
Physical Education (PK-12) and Elementary self-contained.
Fletcher currently serves on State
Representative Jim Pitts’ Advisory Committee,
ESC Region 12 Teacher Advisory Committee, Texas Girls’ Coaches
Association, campus and district Site-Based Decision
Making Committee and Gifted and Talented teacher.
She continuously strives to stay on the cutting edge
of education and attended more than 150 hours of
professional development in the year 2005 alone.
Fletcher has served in many leadership and mentor
roles for her school district and community.
Fletcher has a personal lifelong commitment
to the education of young people. She believes providing
personal service and commitment to the individual
is the only way to educate the masses. This became
very apparent when she was challenged to raise high
school math scores from a 44% passing rate on the
math TAKS test. After one year of countless hours
of curriculum research instruction, support, tutoring
and with the help and support of her colleagues,
scores were increased to a 90% passing rate. When
she isn’t teaching or spending countless hours
tutoring, Fletcher is well-known for coordinating
and working in athletic fundraisers and school projects.
She and her family attend the local Methodist Church.
Fletcher and her husband have four
children and reside in Hubbard.
About the Region 12 Superintendent
of the Year
Dr. Vivian Baker has a total of 25
years of administrative experience, the last four
as superintendent of Belton ISD. She began
her educational career in 1964 as a junior high English
teacher. She has served as teacher, curriculum
director, counselor, and principal, most of which
time has been in Belton.
When Baker became superintendent of
Belton ISD, she implemented programs throughout the
schools to insure that the District’s motto, “Every
Kid a Winner,” was a reality. Mentor teacher
programs, curriculum guidelines, special education
models, employment of a Gifted and Talented coordinator,
peer assistance teams, and applying “smaller
learning communities” are a few methods she
uses to improve instructional and student management.
Baker graduated with a Bachelor of
Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
She then received her masters degree from Southwest
Texas State University and her Doctor of Education
from Baylor University. Baker also earned her professional
counseling certification from the University of Mary
Hardin Baylor.
She is involved in several community
activities which include serving on the Texas Biotechnology
Advisory Board at Temple College, Servant Leadership
Institute of Central Texas Board of Directors and
Belton Chamber of Commerce (Ex-Officio Member). Baker
is also a member of many professional organizations
such as the Texas Association of School Administration
(TASA), Phi Delta Kappa International and Texas Council
of Women School Executives (TCWSE). She also served
as a former district president and is a current member
of Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association
(TEPSA).
Baker has earned in excess of $2.5
million in grant awards for Belton ISD. She personally
has been appointed to the TASA Commissioner’s
Cabinet (At-Large Member), Commissioner’s Legislative
Task Force to Consider Teacher Performance Incentives,
and Commissioner Neeley’s Steering Committee
of Superintendents, and was named TEPSAN of the Year
in District 12.
“I am humbled and consider it
an honor to represent Belton ISD, an outstanding
team of educators and board members, as their nominee
for Superintendent of the Year,” Baker said. “It
truly takes a team to build an outstanding school
district like Belton. I will continue to represent
the District and know that I am one of many Texas
school superintendents that lead dedicated educators
to provide the best public schools for young people.”
Baker and her husband Dudley have five
children and seven grandchildren.
Each year superintendent candidates
are chosen for strong leadership skills, dedication
to improving the quality of education in their school
districts, commitment to public support and involvement
in education, and the ability to build good employee
relations among teachers and staff members. Candidates
are nominated by their respective school boards,
but respective school board members are not allowed
to be on the panel of judges. A panel of judges consisting
of regional school board members selects the winners
on the basis of responses to a series of essay questions
and on personal interviews with the panel.
To learn more about this program and see past winners, visit www.esc12.net/awards. For more information, interview arrangements
or photos of the honorees, please contact Jennifer
Marshall-Higgins at 254-297-1198 or at jhiggins@esc12.net.
About ESC Region
12
One of 20 centers
throughout Texas, the Education Service Center (ESC)
Region 12 provides professional training and technical
assistance for the purpose of improving student performance
for all students. Based in Waco, with offices in
Corsicana, Goldthwaite, Hillsboro, Nolanville and
Teague, the ESC Region 12’s service area includes
Bell, Bosque, Coryell, Falls, Freestone, Hamilton,
Hill, Lampasas, Limestone, Mills, McLennan and Navarro
counties.
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