Spring Branch ISD Featured News

The Spring Branch ISD Teacher of the Year Committee has announced its finalists for SBISD Teacher of the Year.

Committee interviews will soon be held with six finalist candidates. The new SBISD Elementary and Secondary Teachers of the Year will be announced publicly during the annual Employee Service Awards celebration.

On Friday, March 22, six Campus Teachers of the Year were named 2019 finalists. 

Elementary Teacher of the Year Finalists

• Michelle Clements, Housman Elementary. Michelle is a 1st grade teacher;
• Lindsay Ripley, Nottingham Elementary School. Lindsay is a kindergarten-5th grade art teacher; and 
• Sharon Crump, Wilchester Elementary. Sharon is a kindergarten teacher.

Secondary Teacher of the Year Finalists

• Amanda Campos, Landrum Middle School. Amanda is a 7th grade science teacher;
• Elizabeth Snelling, Northbrook Middle School. Elizabeth is campus choir director; and
• James “Ryan” Harvey, Spring Forest Middle School. Ryan is health fitness teacher and coach.

This year’s Employee Service Awards will be held on Tuesday, April 23, at Minute Maid Park downtown. Superintendent of Schools Scott R. Muri will announce two district winners on the field during planned pre-game festivities at the Houston Astros baseball game.

District winners will receive a trophy-style Golden Apple award, plus related awards and recognitions including a $1,000 cash prize funded by Memorial 

Hermann Memorial City Hospital and a $2,000 professional growth stipend sponsored by the school district.

The annual district recognition program is now generously supported by the Sterling McCall Auto Group, which presented the inaugural Going the Extra Mile Award last year.

The Sterling McCall Auto Group presented a 1-year, leased luxury car from its Houston dealership, David Taylor Cadillac, last August to Memorial High School journalism teacher Holly Hartman. She was the district’s Secondary Teacher of the Year in 2018, and also named Region 4 Secondary Teacher of the Year, another special distinction for a district educator.

Campus Teacher of the Year candidates are first nominated by the district’s students, parents, teachers and interested community members. This year, more than 1,500 individual nominations were received; in all, 781 teachers in SBISD were nominated for this high-level professional recognition.

Members of the SBISD Teacher of the Year Committee read and reviewed all campus Teacher of the Year applications, including videos submissions. These applications detail the unique perspectives and varied backgrounds of our outstanding educators. 

When named in April, SBISD’s Elementary and Secondary Teachers of the Year will then compete in the Region IV Teacher of the Year Competition. If successful, they move on to the Texas Teacher of the Year yearly contest.

During event history, SBISD has had several teachers named regional and Texas Teachers of the Year. Other district educators have been named as regional finalists, or they have won separate high-level awards and honors.

View the full list of SBISD Campus Teachers of the Year here.