Dan Crawford (left), principal at Robert E. Lee High School, and Bobby Markle, principal at Caldwell Arts Academy, dressed in ’80s attire to give the crowd a laugh during Tuesday's Educator of the Year banquet. 

Tyler ISD named Kristin Kervin as the district’s 2019 Elementary Teacher of the Year and Steven Barb as the Secondary Teacher of the Year on Tuesday.

The district also selected Claude Lane as Principal of the Year and Deanna Hinton as Rookie of the Year. This is the first year that Tyler ISD has named a Principal of the Year.

Announcement of the award recipients climaxed the district’s annual Educator of the Year Banquet at Green Acres Baptist Church’s CrossWalk Conference Center attended by more than 500 people, including Tyler ISD staff, administrators, teachers, sponsors and community members.

In brief opening remarks, Superintendent Dr. Marty Crawford said, “Tonight we celebrate excellence in teaching and leadership.”

The teachers of the year were selected from 28 nominees, each earlier named teacher of the year for the individual school where they teach. All of the campus teachers of the year were honored prior to announcement of the district teachers of the year.

Kervin is a kindergarten teacher at Dixie Elementary School and Barb is a special education teacher at Hogg Middle School.

Both winners will compete this summer for the Region VII Teacher of the Year honor and possibly might go on to compete for the state Teacher of the Year award. Each received a commemorative award, a laptop computer and checks for $1,000 and for $500 and $50.

Kervin is a graduate of Texas A&M University-Commerce, where she also earned a Master of Education degree in curriculum and instruction. She has taught in Tyler ISD for five years in both kindergarten and second grade and is the current kindergarten team leader at Dixie.

Kervin said, “All children deserve a chance.”

She added, “I believe in giving every student, whether they learn in normal or abstract ways, equal opportunities to be successful in society. One smile, one word of encouragement, one chance, might make the difference to change that child’s life and change the world.”

Bard said the reason he likes his job and the reason he puts his heart into it is that he wants to make the world a better place.

Barb is a graduate of Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania and has taught in special education for 10 years, but this is his first year in Tyler ISD.

Barb said, “I did not get to this stage of teaching by myself. I had many people help me along the way. Now, it is my turn to give back to the ones who are in need; the ones who have challenges each and every day and the ones whose story may be dark in the beginning, a struggle in the middle, but bring tears of joy at the end!”

Criteria for selection of both Campus and District Teachers of the Year included, among other items: playing an active and purposeful role in their community and commitment to the teaching profession through continuous improvement and lessons that creatively engage and inspire students to achieve high academic standards.

Lane has been a principal at Moore MST Magnet School since 1991 and an employee of Tyler ISD a total of 29 years. He said Moore has amazing staff and faculty.

Under his leadership, Moore received all seven Academic Distinctions in the 2018 Texas Education Agency accountability system, making it among the highest academically performing middle schools in the state.

Hinton received the Rookie of the Year Award for demonstrating outstanding performance and superior instruction skills during her first year of teaching. She teaches at Robert E. Lee High School.

In closing remarks the superintendent, Crawford, said the district was honoring “the best of the best and the brightest in Tyler ISD. We could not have the outcomes that we’ve had and the success we have had for five years if it wasn’t for folks that understood that the best thing we can give a child is the opportunity to learn.”

Crawford added, “I’ve said this many times, but Tyler ISD has the best teachers and educators in East Texas and I am so proud of their dedication to making sure our students succeed both in and out of the classroom. It is always fun to honor the best of the best in a profession and we are certainly doing so tonight.”

Cooperative Teachers Credit Union was the lead sponsor for the banquet. Other sponsors included Tab and Bonnie Beall, Purdue Brandon Fielder Collins & Mott LLP, Tyler ISD Foundation, DELL EMC, David Stein and Office Pride Commercial Cleaning Services.

Twitter: @Tylerpaper