MPISD Names Employees of the Year
Ten Honored by Peers
Each year, Mount Pleasant ISD campuses
select Employees of the Year. Chosen by their peers, these
employees were honored at the MPISD End-of-Year Breakfast on June
5, 2009.
The Early Head Start Employee of the
Year is classroom specialist Donna Fridia. She was raised in Cason,
Camp County, Texas and graduated from Daingerfield High School. She
has earned an associates’ degree from Northeast Teas Community
College (NTCC).
Prior to coming to work for Early Head
Start, she worked for Curry’s Nursing and at a daycare.
What Fridia likes most about her job is
being able to really make a difference in lives of the entire
family.
Fridia has one daughter Nikita, a nurse at
Pilgrim’s, and one grandson.
The Child Development Center
Employee of the Year is teacher assistant Nancy Mata. She was born
in Mexico and moved to Texas as a child, graduating from Mount
Pleasant High School in 2001. She has earned her associate of
science degree from NTCC. She is working towards a teacher
certificate.
Mata came to work for MPISD in 2001. What
she likes about her job is having the opportunity to help bilingual
children. She adds, “Working with great staff has made my job
enjoyable all these years.”
Mata and her husband Javier, a Pilgrim‘s
Pride employee, have one daughter.
The Employee of the Year at Annie Sims
Elementary School is paraprofessional Consuelo A. Juarez. She
was born and raised in Mexico, one of 14 children. She came to work
for the district ten years ago.
What she likes most about her job is “the
unconditional love I receive from the students, which gives me the
strength to help students and the teachers accomplish their work.”
She adds, “and that everyday is a new fresh start for the students
and my self.”
Juarez and her husband Eligo, a Pilgrim’s
employee, have three children.
The E.C. Brice Elementary School
Employee of the Year cafeteria manager Faye Jennings. Born and
raised in Louisiana, she worked at a variety of jobs including
truck dispatcher, secretary, waitress, seamstress, lead person at
Pilgrim’s Pride and truck driver before coming to work for the
district.
When asked what she liked most about her
job, Jennings says, "interacting with the children and seeing the
smiles on their faces and receiving a hug or giving a hug when one
is needed.”
Jennings and her husband of 43 years, Ray,
have four children, 11 grandchildren and one great grandchild.
The Frances Corprew Elementary
School Employee of the Year is interventionist Betty Norman.
She was born and raised in Mount Pleasant, the daughter of Imogene
G. Harris. She graduated from Booker T. Washington High School and
attended Texas Women’s University in Denton. She has been at
Corprew for four years.
When asked what she likes most about her
job, Norman said, ”Waking up every morning to the future. Doctors,
lawyers, preachers, teachers and world leaders. My job is the most
fulfilling in the world.”
Norman has four children and four
grandchildren.
The Employee of the Year at Vivian
Fowler Elementary School is office assistant Bridget White. She
was born in Pittsburg and raised in Cason. She went to school in
Daingerfield.
When asked what she likes most about her
job, White says emphatically, “The Staff”.
White and her husband Marcus, an employee
of U.S. Steel, have one daughter.
The Employee of the Year at P.E. Wallace
Middle School is custodian Ovidio Navarro. He was born in
McAllen and moved to Lewisville when he was 10. He lived in the
Dallas area until 2001 when he moved to Mt. Pleasant. He has been
with the district for two years.
Navarro loves the work environment at
Wallace. He adds, “I also enjoy the faculty I work with and being
around children. I love working on a campus where there is such
great school spirit among the faculty.”
Navarro has one daughter and three
grandchildren.
The Mount Pleasant Junior High
School Employee of the Year is ISS aide Paula Neal. She was
born and raised in Mount Pleasant, graduating from MPHS in
1985.
Of her job, Neal says, “What I like most
about my job is getting to meet and interact with a lot of
different kids. I enjoy talking with them and helping them with
issues that will affect their lives. A lot of the kids I meet are
craving attention so I try to be there for them while teaching them
to take responsibility for their actions.”
Neal has five children and five
grandchildren.
The Employee of the Year at Mount
Pleasant High School is custodian Arthur Lewis. He was born in
McKinney and he lived there until he moved to Daingerfield in June
1993.
Lewis says he loves everything about his job. “The hours I am
working, The people I work with. The benefits, The salary.”
Lewis is single.
The Titus County Shared Services
Arrangement’s Employee of the Year is administrative assistant
Michele Millwood. Born in Houston, she moved to Mount Pleasant in
1984. She is a graduate of MPHS and currently attends NTCC. She
will transfer to Stephen F. Austin State University in the fall to
finish her bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She worked at
Chapel Hill ISD before joining MPISD.
What she likes most about her job “are the
people I work with. The staff of TSSA truly cares about the success
and accomplishments of the students at MPISD. The key to success in
our program is the way we work well as a team, which is a
reflection of great leadership. Being part of this awesome team
makes it easy to come to work everyday.”
Millwood had her husband Johnny, a police
officer with the Titus County Fresh Water Supply District, have
three children.
“Each of these nine MPISD employees share a
common trait, they are each dedicated to the education of all
children in Mount Pleasant ISD,” said Superintendent of Schools
Terry Myers. “They love their jobs, love the people they work with,
and love the children on their campuses. Mount Pleasant ISD is
lucky to have them as employees.”
