One is passionate about preparing pre-school children to enter the classroom at the start of their schooling. The other is committed to guiding high school students into a meaningful career.
Both are Killeen ISD STEEL Award winners for the month of October and are making a difference in the lives of students.
Superintendent Jo Ann Fey and other senior KISD leaders joined campus leaders to honor Alice Douse Elementary School parent liaison Cynthia Webster and Career Center video game design instructor Pedro Gonzalez with the district’s monthly employee award.
Douse Principal Stephanie Ford praised Webster’s commitment to a pre-school program called Little Rattlers that brings children as young as 2 years of age into school for literacy activities, as well as her role coordinating campus volunteers.
Career Center Principal Elizabeth Cunningham said Gonzalez is a “champion for students” who displays joy in teaching students and goes beyond expectations in supporting his peers.
STEEL is an acronym that means Supporting the Education and Empowerment of Learners.
Recipients receive a circular, steel plaque refined and polished in the welding and automotive paint and body shops at the Career Center.
Cynthia Webster - Douse Elementary
“Your leadership has transformed the early literacy program, with enthusiastic parents eager to enroll their children, including an expansion of opportunities for 2-year-olds,” said Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Will Baker, reading Webster’s nomination.
The 17-year KISD employee first entered the classroom as a school volunteer, then became a classroom aide and moved into the parent liaison role.
“I love the little ones,” she said. “If you can capture the minds of the little ones, then they will enjoy being here.”
Webster builds relationships with parents, listens to what they like and need and builds a program to help children become more prepared to start school.
“I like greeting them in the morning,” she said of her daily routine at the start of the school day. “That’s important. You want them to feel welcome, like someone cares … It’s going to be a great day.”
She becomes emotional as she talks about the process of capturing the mind and heart of a young child and how that can reverberate into the life of a whole family and change the course of a life.
When she won the STEEL Award, the longtime parent liaison was visibly moved.
“That was amazing to me. I was really surprised. It means a lot, especially to know that my principal thinks the world of me to want to honor me,” she said.
“My co-workers congratulating me today, telling me I deserve it, that means the world to me.”
Pedro Gonzalez – KISD Career Center
At the other end of the education timeline, Gonzalez, a 2013 Ellison High School graduate, is making a difference for students about to take their first step into adulthood.
A former student of video game design before the Career Center opened, Gonzalez knows where his students are coming from and how their learning can impact their future.
He worked for an educators’ credit union and so enjoyed helping teachers that he shifted into education as a career.
“Taking students who believe they can’t do something realize they can do this, when their mindset shifts from, ‘I can’t do this’ to ‘how can I do this,’ being the impetus for that change in mindset is really what makes it nice coming to work every day,” the two-year teacher said.
Knowing the campus administration backs him is humbling, Gonzalez said.
“What we’re doing to set these kids up for success is amazing, and I’m happy to be recognized for those achievements.”
