December Educator and Students of the Month:
High School Educator:
Kori Landman:
For her exceptional leadership and dedication to the improvement of the MHS Career and Technology Education program, agriculture teacher Kori Landman received the Katz and Kittens Award of Excellence from Principal Jamie Dornak at the December board meeting.
As a teacher, Miss Landman supervises nine different classroom subjects so that MHS students can earn credit for a coherent sequence of CTE courses in Ag Business, Ag Engineering, and Food Science. On top of that, she has provided fun learning opportunities, including processing chickens, making homemade noodles, and preparing homemade noodle soup. Her Floral Design students create arrangements for the holidays throughout the year and also made their own mums for homecoming.
In addition, she recently completed a three-day AWS welding inspector course so that she can administer D1.1 and D9.1 certification tests to our students, and she has also completed the Floral Instruction 1 & 2 requirements so that she can give knowledge-based certification tests to Floral Design students. These certifications are essential to our CTE program because they provide credentials that our students can use in the real world after graduation.
Miss Landman’s efforts don’t stop there. As an FFA advisor, she has grown our membership from 20 last year to 38 this year, and she also has 12 Junior FFA members. She also took two teams to area LDE competition in her first year of teaching and coached another student to that level this year.
Rounding out all that she does, Miss Landman works hard to help make the Junior Livestock Show a success. She attends monthly MJLS committee meetings, provides input when consulted, and offers her help as needed. Likewise, in order to help her students grow as agricultural leaders, she supervises their agricultural projects by making weekly visits to assess the progress of their animals for both the local and major stock shows.
High School Students:
Angeles Juarez and Julianna Buehring:
Student Council Historian Emma Buehring and Reporter Angeles Juarez received the Katz and Kittens Award of Excellence for their exceptional leadership and compassion in organizing StuCo’s Game Night, which raised $415 that the Council then donated to the Turtle Wing Foundation. Turtle Wing is a 501c3 non-profit organization that helps children with academic, social-emotional, behavioral and developmental needs. Principal Jamie Dornak presented Emma and Angeles their Award of Excellence at the December board meeting. Congratulations, girls, on your well-deserved honor!
Elementary Educator:
Lisa Zidek:
2nd Grade Teacher and Art Director, Lisa Zidek received the Elementary Katz and Kittens Award of Excellence. She is dedicated to her students here at Moulton Elementary. She has over 30 years teaching experience. She sets an example to us all. She is here early and stays late. She comes up on holidays and weekends to work in her classroom. She is always helpful and willing to share her knowledge with her peers. She has started our art program from scratch and transformed it into a wonderful class for our students, which includes Rodeo Art, Christmas projects, Dia De Los Muertos Family Night, and numerous other projects throughout the year. Along with teaching 2nd grade and being the Art teacher, she also volunteers in her community. Mrs. Zidek has taught CCD on Sundays to students for many years. She also volunteers her time at the church picnic. She is one of the most dedicated teachers and she truly makes a difference in all of our students. Congratulations, Lisa Zidek and thank you for your dedication and hard work to making our school and community a better place!
Elementary Students: Amelia Buehring and Hailey Rothbauer
4th Grade Students, Amelia Buehring and Hailey Rothbauer, received the Elementary Katz and Kittens Award of Excellence for their exceptional characteristics and qualities. They both were nominated for their generosity and compassion towards other students in all of their classes. They are always polite to adults and students. On several occasions they have partnered up with students that are shy instead of going to be with their friends and they do this without being asked. These girls demonstrate kindness, thoughtfulness, leadership, and respectfulness to name a few. They both go above and beyond in and out of their classrooms. They both participate in UIL and 4H. I have seen them help others without being asked. Volunteer when someone needs something and think of others when they need it. Congratulations on your well-deserved award!
January Educator and Students of the Month:
High School Educator:
Leigh Ann Darilek:
Our staff recipient of the January Katz and Kittens Award of Excellence is a teacher who has gone above and beyond to care for students as director of our Special Education and Emerging Bilingual programs.
Currently in her 10th year of education, she teaches eleven different subjects to 17 students each day, and because some of them come to her for multiple subjects, she’s actually teaching 30 students throughout the day. On top of that, she takes care of preparations for meetings, she writes goals and PLAPFS for each student and subject, she conferences with her students to address academic and emotional needs, she answers questions parents may have, and she seeks out any and all resources that will help her families.
She has planned the Texas Workforce Solutions family night next Wednesday, and she is working on providing this free resource to our students during class.
In addition to taking care of our special education population, she also oversees our Emerging Bilingual program, which requires her to attend training and conduct meetings. She also coordinates with EB parents and helps educate staff on dual language strategies.
For both of these programs, she is very passionate about providing the best individualized accommodations for students so that they can succeed.
She and her husband are active in St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and serve as picnic chairmen, and together they have three children and a bonus daughter.
For her exceptional leadership and dedication to the MISD Special Education and Emerging Bilingual programs, we congratulate our staff recipient of the Katz and Kittens Award of Excellence, Mrs. Leigh Ann Darilek.
High School Student:
Mickey Burger
As our district works to meet the ever-changing needs and requirements in education, we still hold on to what we’re known for, our tradition of excellence in academics and athletics. This month’s student recipient of the Katz and Kittens Award of Excellence has certainly done her part in sports to hold up the traditions our school, as well as her family, are known for.
Her commitment to excellence began paying off when she was named Newcomer of the Year in her basketball district her sophomore year, and during that same year she was a member of the All-Region and All-State teams. As a junior, she received the honor of District MVP and for the second year in a row was an All-Region and All-State player. Those accomplishments led to her selection as a player in the All-Star Game in Arlington the summer before her senior year, and her accomplishments continue during her last season as a Kitten. She was the three-point champion in both the Port Aransas and Moulton tournaments, and she was named to the All-Tournament teams in Moulton and Port Aransas as well. On January 4, she eclipsed 1,400 career points and currently stands to pass 1500 as her current total is at 1,485.
On top of her dedication to the Kitten basketball program, she thought jumping into golf as a junior would be fun as well, and she ended up qualifying for the state meet.
Active as a mentor in our Peer Assistance and Leadership program, she strives to be a role model for others to follow and points to one lesson she has learned along the way. In her own words, she says, “Having accomplished all these things has taught me through hard work and dedication, your dreams really can come true.”
For her exceptional leadership and dedication to our athletic programs, we congratulate January's student recipient of the Katz and Kittens Award of Excellence, senior Mackenzie “Mickey” Berger.
Elementary Educator:
Michelle Ramos:
Moulton Elementary Secretary, Michelle Ramos, is the staff recipient of the January Katz and Kittens Award of Excellence. She goes above and beyond to care for our teachers and students and always has a willingness to help out. She is always happy to assist us any way she can. Even when things are hectic and we have a lot happening, she is able to handle the situations presented to her. She is often pulled in many directions at once, but strives to help everyone she can. Mrs. Ramos is the first face people see and the first voice they hear when they visit our campus. She goes above and beyond for the staff here at the elementary to make sure everyone has what they need to be productive during the day. She is helpful for our parents, teachers, and students. We congratulate our staff recipient of the Katz and Kittens Award of Excellence, Mrs. Michelle Ramos.
Elementary Student:
Clayton Chaloupka:
Moulton Elementary Kindergartener, Clayton Chaloupka, has received the Katz and Kittens Award of Excellence. Even though this student is one of our youngest, he still exemplifies what a true Bobkat is all about. He is a dependable and responsible student who helps others in the classroom. He is polite and uses his manners, puts forth every effort in class, and produces quality work. Even at just 6 years old, he demonstrates model behavior. We are very proud of our newest Katz and Kittens Award of Excellence recipient, Clayton Chaloupka.