PGMS teachers honored with Teacher of Excellence awards
TEXARKANA, Texas — Pleasant Grove Middle School Teachers Kristen Gibson and Elizabeth Sillavan were recently recognized by the local Teachers Support Teachers organization for Teacher of Excellence awards.
Each year, Teachers Support Teachers receives nominations for six Teacher of Excellence awards, and this year, Gibson and Sillavan were chosen for their work in science and language arts.
TST provides support and enrichment programs to classroom leaders and student heroes. Recipients of the Teacher of Excellence Awards were honored at a gala earlier this month.
Nominated by eighth-grade student Kaylynn Sharp, Gibson is the 2021 recipient of the Rogena Sheets Science Excellence Award. Nominated by eighth-grade student Annabelle Harp, Sillavan is the recipient of the Donna Powell English Excellence Award.
Gibson has been teaching science at Pleasant Grove Independent School District for 12 years.
“This award is special to me because I was nominated by a student,” Gibson said. “Every day, you hope you are making a difference in the lives of your students, so to be nominated and praised by one of them is really special. Having to teach both in-class and virtual students synchronously was a new experience, so I was not initially sure how effective I would be at helping students grow and learn. I was so excited to hear that I received this award under these circumstances.”
Sillavan has been in education for 7 years and has taught Language Arts at PGMS for 3 years.
She said she was honored to receive an award like this because she is passionate about finding a love for reading in students, even when they might not know it was in them.
“I love it when my students find a passion, especially in reading,” Sillavan said. “When students who tell you “I don’t read” find a book that they can’t stop reading or talking about, it makes my job worth it.”