Dr. Bobby Ott

Temple ISD

The Central Texas native has served as superintendent of Temple ISD since 2018 and as an educator for 24 years, demonstrating leadership in military, rural, urban, suburban and fast-growth districts. His previous positions include assistant and deputy superintendent in Temple, Copperas Cove and Killeen ISDs. He also served as an executive leader for both the Texas Education Agency and University of Texas.

Under Ott's leadership and support, the district has seen gains in closing student achievement gaps. The performance gap for kindergarten to 1st-grade Hispanic and 1st- to 2nd-grade African American students has decreased by 50% due to a continued focus on screening and intervention. The latest data also shows academic growth in reading in several student groups, including those receiving special education services and English-learning students.

 
Ott is well known for being intentional about connecting with all groups and being collaborative. He works closely with the school's board of directors, named the 2019-2020 Region 12 and Honor Board of the Year (a top five state finalist). Board members say the energetic leader is candid and timely with communications and committed to working cohesively as a team. In addition to regular board work and relations, Ott often provides an in-depth analysis of district functions, such as school finance, enrollment growth and state accountability. The board credits his leadership style and interactive communications with helping them to work as a high-functioning team making decisions in the best interest of those they serve.

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Anthony Meurer

West ISD

Anthony Meurer has spent most of his 40-year career teaching agriculture science right where he graduated from–West High School. Before West, he taught agricultural science in Hillsboro ISD. 

Meurer's teaching style combines behaviorism and constructivism while helping students make connections to everyday life. This approach not only engages students but allows them to retain the information. Whether it involves building projects or selecting and feeding animals, the West Trojan immensely enjoys guiding his students through the learning process, often resulting in financial wins, recognition, and experiences they use past graduation.
 
This teacher, who works with students in ninth through 12th grades, incorporates safety into every lesson to provide a solid understanding of how things work and how to fix problems and maintain systems, such as electricity. Through his teaching, Meurer also shares data about how the classroom study applies to future jobs and which ones are in high demand. One of his favorite classes to teach is Power Systems in Agriculture Facilities. A class that starts with terminology and safety protocols quickly moves to students designing circuits and working in groups to wire a system. Students test for success, troubleshoot issues and lean on one another to move to the next project phase. He helps them realize that their individual and group contributions achieve positive outcomes, often involving the groups competing (and winning) at their projects' local, district, area, and/or state levels. Meurer sees students grow in their knowledge and skills and take pride in their completed work.
 
As an ag teacher, he oversees the construction of many projects. A favorite was the students' design for a barbeque smoker on wheels. The work involved researching, drawing plans, visiting cook-off competitions and preparing a budget. Students worked on different pieces before completing the project as a whole and then building a trailer to hold the pit. Following this work, the students built and added a grill and fish cooker and finished with lighting, paint, safety chains, and everything in between. Testing and their hard work proved successful as the students competed in an FFA banquet, cooking briskets that served 260 people. 
 
This smoker ensemble is used for various activities, even cooking for board members during Board Appreciation Month and other activities. 

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Lorenz Villa

La Vega ISD

Lorenz Villa has been teaching for 28 years, with the last seven in La Vega ISD, serving as a 4th-grade dual-language teacher and previously as a reading, English as a Second Language (ESL) and math teacher for the district. Villa has also served as a math, reading and social studies teacher in Waco and McAllen ISDs. Before becoming a teacher, Villa spent nine years working as a missionary in Mexico and is also a United States Air Force veteran.

Villa's military and work experiences have translated well to a successful teaching career, tying lessons to career experiences and using hands-on activities to demonstrate concepts and guide students to solve problems and explore topics more deeply. Through his experience teaching multiple subjects to English-speaking and English learners, he sees the impact active learning in topics like science has on reading and writing skills. He sees growth in students' skills when they work together in groups to investigate and solve problems, support and respect their peers, and be comfortable with taking risks and making mistakes. He has committed his career to working with students from a low socioeconomic background with a focus on mathematics since it is a key to a career in the growing fields of technology, engineering and science.

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Dr. Brandon Hubbard

Chilton ISD

Dr. Brandon Hubbard has served as superintendent of Chilton ISD since 2016 and as an educator for 17 years. His previous positions include principal, assistant principal and teacher in Chilton and Waco ISD. 

Under Hubbard's leadership, Chilton ISD has a culture of continuous improvement, creativity and innovation. He challenges every staff member to "Go Beyond" demographic and statistical limits in pursuit of excellence. The CISD leader uses student data to develop staff and student support. During the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 academic years, psychometric analyses predicted that Chilton ISD would perform at the 'D' level based upon student demographics. Hubbard used this prediction as a rallying cry for the staff and students. In each of those academic years, the school reached a 'B' rating. Hubbard and his team are confident that they will achieve an 'A' rating through systematic instructional practices.

Hubbard leads with the philosophy that "Challenge + Support = Growth." He believes that challenging students and faculty without relational support is futile and leads to irreparable frustration. Likewise, too much support without meaningful challenge leads to stifled growth and prevents organizational accountability. Therefore, he strives for a balance between a culture of high expectations and support structures for all to be successful.

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Krystle Moos
Midway ISD

Krystle Moos has been teaching for 12 years, currently serving as a chemistry teacher at Midway High School. She also serves as a professional learning community leader and as a science fair & science UIL coach. Before joining the Midway Panthers in 2012, she was a teacher for Waco ISD.

The daughter of a science educator, Moos began her life with a passion for uncovering the science in the world around her. She brings this passion into the classroom through hands-on lab experiments and lessons while building students' confidence in working through complex concepts. Inspired by her growth mindset, Moos emphasizes learning as a life-long process to master the most difficult topics. The high school teacher encourages student growth through productive struggle and uses this principle to guide her chemistry lessons. She creates and uses a positive environment to build relationships with students, help them celebrate small successes, and feel the support necessary to work through assignments. Knowing that students have different learning styles, she provides multiple opportunities to demonstrate learning, emphasizing understanding processes rather than only having correct answers.   

Through these instruction practices, she sees students gain a deeper understanding of the content, motivation increase to solve problems--driving an increase in assessment scores, student engagement, and excitement. Much to the credit of Moos, enrollment in AP Chemistry has tripled over four years, with ongoing student-to-student mentorship that extends after high school. AP chemistry is now more diverse than ever before while maintaining AP exam scores above the global and Texas average. 

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James Cook
Killeen ISD
 
James Cook has been teaching for six years—all in Killeen ISD, serving as a fifth-grade math teacher at Cedar Valley Elementary for the last five and previously as a Title I teaching aide. Before becoming a teacher, he served 22 years in the United States Army with his last position as Senior Instructor/Platoon SGT/Operations Sergeant. 

Cook believes in building relationships that foster trust - allowing students to become free-thinking individuals capable of researching facts and making informed decisions while finding their purpose. He vows each day to make a positive impact on someone. 

After teaching all core subjects, Cook saw a growing need for delivering math content that students can use outside the classroom. In addition to traditional lessons, he developed and uses a system that teaches financial literacy, budgeting, borrowing, and contract litigation. Knowing the lifelong value that financial literacy provides, Cook's program pays students for attendance, good citizenship, peer tutoring and leadership or volunteer tasks. The students pay rent for school supplies, internet access and hardware. His students can use their savings to purchase specialty items like supplies and healthy snacks; however, they have to pay fines for misbehavior, being late, or not returning items by deadlines. The students learn how to manage a balanced budget and consequences like bank fines for mismanaging money or unpaid bills. His students quickly learn how their earning potential goes far beyond a salary. 

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Dr. David Edison

Aquilla ISD

Aquilla ISD Superintendent Dr. David Edison has served as superintendent of Aquilla ISD since 2010 and as an educator for 20 years. Previous positions include principal, assistant principal, administrative intern/teacher, and teacher/coach.

During his time serving as superintendent at Aquilla ISD, Edison led the district in a successful bond election. Edison also completed a 3-phase building project, which included a new gymnasium, building and safety renovations, and an Agricultural Complex.

Edison is also known for his successful management of district finances. 

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Misty Thomas

Copperas Cove ISD

Misty Thomas, Ph.D. has been teaching for 12 years, with the last eight as a chemistry teacher at Copperas Cove High School. Before joining Copperas Cove ISD, Thomas taught U.S. History, Texas History, World History, and Language Arts in Killeen ISD. Previous to her teaching career, Thomas served in the U.S. Army as Captain of the Signal Corps at Fort Hood, Texas; Baghdad, Iraq; Camp Red Cloud, and South Korea as well as Lieutenant of the Chemical Corps at Fort Drum, New York.

Thomas utilizes her love of learning, leadership abilities, and innovation both inside and outside of the classroom to provide a safe and inclusive learning environment for all students. 

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Laurie Sims

Temple ISD

Laurie Sims has been teaching for 44 years. She began her teaching career at Temple ISD in 1975 and after teaching at St. Francis Episcopal School from 1983-2002, Sims has been with Temple ISD ever since. Sims has served as a first-grade teacher at Kennedy-Powell Elementary for the past nine years and previously as a kindergarten teacher at Kennedy-Powell Elementary, first-grade and second-grade teacher at Carter Elementary, kindergarten teacher at St. Francis Episcopal School, a first-grade teacher at Scott Elementary, and migrant teacher at Meredith-Dunbar Elementary. 

Sims values creating lessons that allow her students to take ownership and make connections outside of the classroom walls. Sims embraced the challenge brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, giving her students the opportunity to write thank-you notes to essential workers, teaching them to make connections and express gratitude within their community--a concept that is often difficult for first-grade students to grasp.

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Temple ISD Board of Trustees:

Dr. Sandhya Sanghi, Linell Davis, Shannon Gowan, Temple ISD Superintendent Bobby Ott , Board President Dan Posey, Board Vice-President Ronnie Gaines, Shannon Myers and Board Secretary Virginia Suarez