Katherine McCoy (holding flowers) with her family
Lake Highlands High School graduate Katherine McCoy was surprised Wednesday when Richardson North Principal Doug Planey announced over the loudspeaker that she’d been voted the school’s Teacher of the Year. As students and fellow teachers spilled out of their classrooms to cheer her on, she was led on a mini-parade around campus by a Zamboni-esque floor sweeper decorated in green and yellow — the school’s colors.
“We have lots of great teachers at this school, but this teacher has the ability to engage and inspire all of the students in her classroom,” said Planey, former assistant principal at Forest Meadow and the LH Freshman Center, who built up to the surprise with a flourish. “She works cooperatively with the other teachers on her team and teachers throughout the building. She has lots of activities that engage the students in the classroom and is always willing to try new things that make meaningful community contributions to our school. She is innovative and creative and uses technology when needed, and that inspires great teaching by our staff.”
“Katherine is so kind — she really cares about her students,” agreed Instructional Coach Rhonda Bristow. “She makes it look so easy. She’s very passionate about teaching, and her students love her.”
Amanda Daniel, Katherine McCoy and Doug Planey
McCoy taught in Austin after graduating from the University of Texas, and this is her fourth year at North. She teaches eighth grade English and is the department head for Language Arts. She also serves as sponsor for the cheer squad.
“My coworkers work so hard every day, and they know what goes into being a good teacher, so to be honored with something like this is really special,” said McCoy. “One thing I love about teaching is that every day you get to see something connect with kids. You get to see someone find a right answer or make a good connection or get better at something they didn’t start strongly at. So, it’s a really rewarding position to be a teacher. I do feel like I’m making a difference.”
Outside the classroom, McCoy spends lots of time reading for pure enjoyment. She’s hoping to build the same love of literature in her students.
“One of my favorite things about being a reading teacher specifically is just getting the right book in a kid’s hand,” she says. “We read every day in class, and we do independent reading. It’s important to help kids to not just be good at comprehension and critical thinking, but to also find enjoyment in it.”
Alison Reams, Kate Dodgen and Chris Choate
Kate Dodgen, also a graduate of LHHS, was named Teacher of the Year at Richardson High School. She teaches pre-calculus and college algebra, and she sponsors the National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta and Jesus Club.
“I love the students I teach, and I love the people I work with, so I am really honored that they picked me to be the RHS teacher of the year,” she told me. “I definitely didn’t get here on my own though — I have some really great principals and instructional coaches who are always super supportive, and the math department here works so well together. I just really love getting to teach the students at RHS and help guide them during their high school years, and I am glad that I get the opportunity to make an impact in some of these students’ lives.”
Dodgen knows math can be a difficult subject for some to understand, so she works to make it as easy as possible and offers resources to help students do well in class.
“I try to make sure my students know I want to see them succeed as a whole person and not just make an A in my class. I enjoy when they come by before or after school to ask for advice on college applications or when they eat lunch in my room and ask for advice with day-to-day high school matters. It’s nice to know that all of the hard work in the classroom and all of the time spent building relationships with the students is noticed and I am really honored that I was selected.”
Kate Dodgen with her class at RHS
Teachers of the Year from schools in the Lake Highlands Learning Community are Mary Medders (LHHS), Lenora Fornadel (Forest Meadow), Kelly To (LMMS), Norleesa Hockless (Aikin Elementary), Emily Pupo (Forest Lane Academy), Melissa Ruffino (Lake Highlands Elementary), Pamela Truscott (Merriman Park), Gabrielle Taylor (Moss Haven), Jaime (Kimo) Aleman (Northlake), Lauren Compean (Skyview), Yonique Morrison-Player (Stults Road), Rebecca Thompson Cole (Wallace) and Holly Baxter (White Rock). Each campus honoree is now in the running to become Teacher of the Year for their learning community. You’ll find the full list of RISD Teachers of the Year on the district website. Congratulations, all.
