LISD awarded $100,000 from H-E-B Excellence in Education

 

By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News

Leander ISD Superintendent Bret Champion accepted a $100,000 district-wide award at the H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards on Friday in San Antonio.

The money goes into the district general fund and there are some ideas that will benefit the system as a whole that cannot be announced yet but that the district has been researching for years, said Veronica Sopher, spokesperson for LISD.

L-R Veronica Sopher, Leander ISD assistant superintendent of community and governmental relations, Trish Bode, LISD board member, Mark Koller, Pleasant Hill Elementary principal, Gloria Gonzales-Dholakia,  LISD Educational Excellence Foundation executive director, Paul Johnson, Vista Ridge High School principal, Bret Champion, LISD superintendent, Pamela Waggoner,  LISD board vice president, Aaron Johnson,  board member, Dr. Tiffany Terrell-Spicer, Leander High School principal and Sue Williams, LISD parent volunteer.

L-R Veronica Sopher, Leander ISD assistant superintendent of community and governmental relations, Trish Bode, LISD board member, Mark Koller, Pleasant Hill Elementary principal, Gloria Gonzales-Dholakia, LISD Educational Excellence Foundation executive director, Paul Johnson, Vista Ridge High School principal, Bret Champion, LISD superintendent, Pamela Waggoner, LISD board vice president, Aaron Johnson, board member, Dr. Tiffany Terrell-Spicer, Leander High School principal and Sue Williams, LISD parent volunteer.

“We haven’t decided, but it will most likely be used on community engagement initiatives that support the campuses,” Sopher said. LISD will update the community at a later date on what the funds will be used for.

Last summer, LISD parent volunteer, Sue Williams, wrote the H-E-B Excellence in Education Award application for the district on her own time. She spent hours talking with district administrators to answer the extensive questions on the application regarding our educational philosophy, leadership development, curriculum, classroom instruction, district innovations and initiatives and other areas of excellence. Williams saw an opportunity to serve the district.

Earlier this year, LISD became a finalist for the H-E-B Excellence in Education Award. Then this spring, a panel of judges visited LISD, toured several campuses and met with administration, staff, parents and community members during the selection process.

Among other things, LISD is described as “a place where children identify learning targets from kindergarten and track their goals with data folders throughout their learning career. It is a district that covers 200 square miles and has increased its Advanced Placement courses and scores.”  

At the ceremony on May 13 in San Antonio, H-E-B chairman and CEO Charles Butt handed out $430,000 in cash awards and grants, and congratulated eight educators, two school districts, including LISD, one early childhood agency and a public school board for being among the best in Texas.

These awards were launched by H-E-B and the Texas Association of School Administrators in 2002 as a way to support public education.