By Lisa Magers
cisd community services
Sarajane Hodges started out as a successful interior designer. She still designs rooms — but then she teaches the children who fill them.
After 20 years in the same job, Kathy Martin continues to be amazed by what is accomplished each day.
Wayne Findley enjoyed 30 years of success in the oil and gas industry but is now involved with the nation’s most important natural resource — children.
Hodges, Martin and Findley are among this year’s Cleburne ISD Teachers of the Year, chosen by their peers for their dedication to their students and to the teaching profession.
Also among the district’s Teachers of the Year, who will be recognized at Thursday’s employee appreciation banquet, are Kourtney Jones, Fulton Education Center; Dea Griffith, Wheat Middle School; Sonja Goodloe, Santa Fe Elementary; Jennifer Glenn, Smith Middle School; Fabiola Davis, Irving Elementary; Connie Darling, Cooke Elementary; Jill Crook, Gerard Elementary; Suzanne Crocker, Coleman Elementary; Vicki Kattner, Cleburne High School; and John Tanner, TEAM School.
“We have many worthy and qualified teachers who represent our district so well,” said Carolyn Cody, assistant superintendent for human resources, who coordinates the Teacher of the Year program. “From these honorees, we will select the CISD Elementary and Secondary Teachers of the Year who will serve as our candidates for Region XI Teacher of the Year.”
Hodges’ talents in art and design led the parents of Adams Elementary’s teacher of the year to believe their daughter would pursue a degree in interior design.
“I wasn’t so sure,” said the fourth-grade science teacher. “When I graduated from college and went to work in the real world, my life felt empty. Designing homes just doesn’t compare to seeing a child’s eyes light up when they understand a concept or the hugs I receive daily because of the bond I have with my students. God has placed me to work with children and I’ve learned so much about life from them.”
This year’s honorees differ in their reasons for choosing careers in education, but all agree they made the right decision. Many were influenced by teachers they had as students, including Irving bilingual kindergarten teacher Fabiola Davis.
“I have had some amazing teachers who inspired me into choosing this profession,” Davis said. “One was my fourth-grade teacher. The other was my professor from my very first college course, ‘Intro to Teaching.’ I knew right there and then that there was no turning back. I fell in love with teaching.”
Special education teacher Kourtney Jones grew up watching her mother and other family members in their roles of teacher.
“As long as I can remember I wanted to be a teacher,” she said. “I chose to become an educator because I wanted to make a direct impact on the educating of students. I wanted to be a part of their journey to success not only through teaching but inspiring them to aim high and always to believe in themselves.”
Wheat Middle School sixth-grade math teacher Dea Griffith also grew up in a family of educators.
“I learned from my family that education doesn’t start in a textbook but begins with a relationship of compassion, love and understanding,” Griffith said. “Children are our future and need to be led by example. I strive to be that example — to better myself and our children.”
A true love for children and an energetic personality made Gerard kindergarten teacher Jill Crook think she was a “natural” for the profession. The gratification she receives from teaching has kept her in the classroom.
“There is no other feeling quite as gratifying as seeing the transformation of a child, from August to May, particularly in kindergarten,” Crook said. “Having a class of students who now can read and knowing you have helped give them something so precious that they will build on the rest of their lives is a wonderful feeling. They have been given something of untold value and I’m a part of that.”
Coleman fifth-grade science teacher Suzanne Crocker went back to school to earn her teaching degree after serving for several years as an elementary PE aide. She began her teaching career at Fulton Intermediate School, teaching science, and has also coached middle school and high school tennis.
New to Coleman this year, she has enjoyed being involved in the expansion of the school’s science program and the responsibility of overseeing the new science lab.
“I am proud to have helped establish here at Coleman a strong science program that involves all grade levels,” Crocker said. “I am also proud of having the opportunity to be a Special Olympics coach for three years.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for all the teachers that work in Cleburne ISD and also their work ethic,” Crocker said. “I believe they are the backbone of our community.”
Although Sonja Goodloe, Title I science teacher at Santa Fe Elementary, is no longer new to the profession with 21 years experience, she talks about her job with the same enthusiasm as a first-year teacher.
“Teaching children and watching them learn and grow is the most humbling and rewarding experience anyone can have,” Goodloe said. “I am blessed to be a part of the teaching profession.”
Kathy Martin, Marti Elementary‘s teacher of the year and another 21-year veteran, feels the same way.
“Kindergarten rocks,” Martin said. “I love witnessing my students’ accomplishments. Five and 6-year-olds can soak up so much information and even after all these years it still continues to amaze me. I believe kindergarten is the foundational rock for all future learning.”
Of this year’s elementary teachers of the year, four, including Cooke’s Connie Darling, are kindergarten teachers.
“Cleburne is a town with a population of great diversity,” Darling said. “Our school system has many teachers who are truly dedicated to helping all the children learn with meaning, to become the citizens of the future that, we as educators, can be proud to have taught.”
Jennifer Glenn, sixth-grade math teacher at Smith Middle School, was influenced to become a teacher after mentoring elementary students during her senior year of high school.
“I am really fortunate in choosing this career,” Glenn said. “I enjoy my job — not everybody can say that. As a teacher, I not only work with a new set of students each year, I also have the opportunity to form bonds with them and their parents. We stay in touch as they grow and graduate. It’s very rewarding.”
Watching students accomplish their goals is also very rewarding for TEAM School teacher John Tanner.
“My most significant accomplishment as an educator is helping students who have experienced setbacks to persevere and earn their diploma,” said Tanner, whose classroom responsibilities include the Teen Leadership program at the district’s alternative high school.
Cleburne High School’s teacher of the year, Vicki Kattner, who teaches economics, was the first in her family to finish college and recently received her master’s degree.
“I went back to college after our daughters were in elementary school,” Kattner said. “I worked as a library aide while completing my associate’s and bachelor degrees. Our daughters have now completed college, and we are very proud of them.
“I teach seniors, and I make every effort to encourage them to continue their education beyond high school, whether it be at a university or a technical college,” Kattner said. “I want to see teenagers leave high school and succeed in life.”
Wayne Findley followed in his wife, Krista’s, footsteps and became a teacher after 30 years in the oil industry.
“I witnessed firsthand all the good she accomplished and the satisfaction she received from helping students,” Findley said.
His students were among those who helped him on March 6, the day Krista, an assistant principal at Cleburne High School, was killed in an auto accident.
“Although I received many awards and achievements in the 30 years I worked in the oil fields, they were totally different in scope and nature than the rewards Krista received,” Findley said. “I wanted to make a difference in a student’s life. I wanted to be someone that was respected, admired and loved for giving the gift of education and making the future brighter for those I taught. I wanted to be like Krista.”
