The educators who topped the Lake Travis Independent School District’s “2009-10 Teacher of the Year” awards would have made late Ed McMahon would be proud.

On March 9-10, LTISD’s ‘prize patrol’ consisting of Superintendent Dr. Rocky Kirk, Deputy Superintendent Dr. Diane Frost, and Executive Director for Administrative and Human Resource Services Susanna Russell made surprise visits to each campus and announced the winners.
Joined by each respective school principal, the group walked into the honorees’ classrooms and presented them with a bouquet of flowers and wall plaque as students and colleagues cheered.
The following educators have been selected as the 2009-2010 LTISD campus Teachers of the Year:
• Kelly Bender, Bee Cave Elementary (5th grade)
• Janet Butler, Lake Pointe Elementary (2nd grade)
• Tina Pe§a, Lake Travis Elementary (Discovery)
• Cathy Pankonien, Lakeway Elementary (1st grade)
• Rosemary Torres, Serene Hills Elementary (2nd grade)
• Paige Abbott, Hudson Bend Middle School (7th/8th grade History)
• Wendi Daniels, Lake Travis Middle School (Science/Discovery)
• Lou Anthony, Lake Travis High School (Math/Science)
From this group, a District elementary and secondary Teacher of the Year will be selected. These two recipients will then be considered for the regional/state Texas Teacher of the Year program.
“We applaud each and every one of our 460 star teachers for their commitment and dedication to their demanding and ever-evolving profession,” Kirk said. “In particular, our campus Teachers of the Year have demonstrated a superior ability to help all students achieve, resulting in exceptionally high academic and extracurricular performance District wide.”
The campus Teachers of the Year were nominated by their respective peers at each school. The criteria required that nominees be an exceptionally dedicated, knowledgeable, and skilled teacher who plans to continue in an active teaching status; inspire students of all backgrounds and abilities to learn; have the respect and admiration of students, parents, and colleagues; play an active and useful role in the community, as well as in the school; and be poised, articulate, and possess the energy to withstand a taxing schedule.
All LTISD campus Teachers of the Year will be formally recognized by the LTISD Board of Trustees in May. A photo gallery of the 2009-2010 campus Teachers of the Year is available via the LTISD Office of Communications Web page at http://www.ltisdschools.org.