HOUSTON — Spring ISD is celebrating the start of the new school year in a big way as one of their own was named 2022 Teacher of the Year by the program Teachers of Tomorrow.
Shanekia Hall, a kindergarten teacher at Ponderosa Elementary School, is the latest winner of their award that also comes with a $5,000 cash prize!
Teachers are nominated by their supervisors, principals and peers for their hard work and dedication. After finalists are chosen, the public then gets to vote for their favorite candidate. Principals and supervisors from several states across the nation nominated teachers, but all five finalists came from Texas.
Hall shared her approach with her students that led to the award as well as what she plans to do with the prize money.
"I believe it takes a healthy village to hone the holistic development of a child, and I found that here in Spring ISD," Hall said. "I plan to use the $5,000 cash prize awarded on purchasing books for my students. Literacy is an important component of the whole child development...being able to expose children to more books, starting at a young age, is my goal."
Teachers of Tomorrow is the nation's largest program for providing alternative certification programs for teachers. The group said their programs aim to be a part of the solution to end the teacher shortage.
As for the other nominees, two were from North Texas, one was from the San Antonio area, and Gloria Barreiro, a 12th-grade teacher for Cleveland ISD, rounded out the group of Texas finalists.
