Appreciated Teacher Recipient: Jon Pillow
Jon Pillow is a government teacher and the head boys’ basketball coach at Pasadena High School in Pasadena ISD. Along with being a teacher and a coach, Mr. Pillow also serves as the treasurer for the Houston Area Basketball Coaches Association board.
Mr. Pillow has made many enormous contributions to his community and his students. He organized an annual basketball tournament to honor a student of his that passed away. This tournament raises money to supply a scholarship to a deserving student each year. For the past four years, Mr. Pillow has organized a community service event known as “Hoops for Hope,” which is a wheel chair basketball game. This purpose of this game is to raise funds for the TIRR Memorial Jr. Hotwheels Basketball Team so that they may purchase much needed equipment. Mr. Pillow has also organized Basketball Bonanza Weekend, Read to Achieve, and a Buddy Basketball Program.
Along with being named a recipient of GCEFCU’s Appreciated Teacher award, Mr. Pillow is also a two time Coach of the Year, a two time winner of the Who’s Who of America’s Teachers award, and a current finalist for Pasadena High School’s 2018 Teacher of the Year.
“Mr. Pillow believes that children want to be challenged and want to learn,” said Candra Ojeda. “His belief is that as a teacher, you do not lower the bar, you set it and expect kids to reach the bar through hard work, sacrifice, and a good attitude.”
Lana Burns is a government teacher at Cypress Ranch High School in Cypress Fairbanks ISD. Teaching government to teenagers is not an easy task, but Ms. Burns strives to make every student a confident and competent citizen that will truly make our world a better place. She brings even the most difficult topics of government to life for each person, actively applying her knowledge of the law and how government works.
Stephanie Shaw is a second grade teacher at Kaufman Elementary in Conroe ISD. She was nominated by her husband, who said she is creative and goes out of her way to make learning interesting and engaging for the students. This was evident upon meeting Mrs. Shaw, who was in the middle of cleaning up her classroom, after she had transformed it into an actual campground for her lesson titled, “Camp Learned-A-Lot.”
As soon as we checked in at Highlands Elementary in Fort Bend ISD, we knew Mrs. Koski was a popular teacher. The front office staff all showed their excitement and told us how much they loved Mrs. Koski. One of them told us that Mrs. Koski was her son’s favorite teacher, and he’s now in college. Mrs. Koski is the type of teacher that has an impact on all of the students at Highlands, not just those lucky enough to be in her class.
Richard Embrick is a Robotics and Engineering teacher at David Crockett Middle School in Fort Bend. Mr. Embrick has spent countless hours working with students before and after school, and spends his weekends at various robotics and coding competitions, near and far. His students describe him as extremely patient, fair, and nice.