San Angelo ISD teachers, staff, and administrators gathered the morning of Friday, April 19, 2024 at the San Angelo Stadium for a district-wide celebration of the accomplishments of the 2023-2024 school year, and honored staff for their service and contributions to the district. During the event, the district honored retiring educators, recognized employees for milestone years of service and distributed special awards to exceptional staff members.

“We couldn’t do what we do without the contributions of each and every staff member in the district,” said Dr. Farrah Gomez, SAISD Deputy Superintendent and Chief Academic Officer. “There are only two occasions each school year we all get the opportunity to come together – convocation and district celebration. District celebration allows us to recognize the many accomplishments of our staff in all job families. For some, they may be retiring after many years of service, while others are just finishing their very first year. It is an honor to celebrate and honor such hard working individuals.”

The celebration included a recognition of employees for milestone years of service. Service pins were awarded for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 years of continuous service to San Angelo ISD. 

Retiring staff members were also honored during the event. Deputy Superintendent and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Farrah Gomez stated that these staff members represented over 606 years of service to San Angelo ISD and 816 years of service to public education. Thank you for your commitment to the students of San Angelo and congratulations on your next chapter. 

Recognition of other special awards were given during the event including: individual campus Teachers of the Year; overall district Elementary and Secondary Teachers of the Year; Substitute Teachers of the Year; New to the Profession Employee of the Year; Instructional and Non-Instructional Support Employees of the Year; Custodial Employee of the Year; Maintenance and Grounds Employee of the Year; Transportation Employee of the Year; and Champion of Literacy. New to this year’s awards was School Resource Officer of the Year, an award recognizing school resource officers’ valuable contribution of deterring threats and ensuring a secure learning environment for students. SAISD is proud and honored by the service of all of this year's special award recipients. Congratulations to all of our special award recipients listed below: 

• Secondary Teacher of the Year: Eloisa Griffin, Lincoln Middle School
• Elementary Teacher of the Year: Denise O’Dell, Santa Rita Elementary 
• Instructional Support Employee of the Year: Monica Porras, Health Services
• Non-Instructional Support Employee of the Year: Michael Campbell, Technology
• Child Nutrition Employee of the Year: Kelly Garcia
• Custodial Employee of the Year: Mary Jimenez 
• Maintenance and Grounds Employee of the Year: Tray Harris, Master Electrician
• Transportation Employee of the Year: Matt Lankford, Bus Driver
• New to the Profession Employee of the Year: Analicia Peterson, Santa Rita Elementary
• Champion of Literacy: Brittany Sanchez, Lake View High School
• High School Substitute Teacher of the Year: Stacie Rodriguez
• Middle School Substitute Teacher of the Year: Juanita Oropeza
• Elementary School Substitute Teacher of the Year: Dora Garcia 
• School Resource Officer of the Year: Jonathan Montana

Other highlights of the ceremony included a presentation of colors by ROTC students, pledges and National Anthem led by SAISD staff members and the staff choir, end-of-year videos highlighting photos of students and staff from the school year.

Coinciding with the final weekend of the annual San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo (SASSR), this year’s District Celebration featured a western theme. Staff dressed in their best western or rodeo wear and competed in a best boots contest. Employees also had the opportunity to volunteer to participate in any of three "rodeo" games. The games included fun takes on traditional rodeo events, including Steer Ropin', Stick Horse Barrel Racin' and Bouncy Bull Ridin'. This year's SASSR clown, Matt Merritt, served as the announcer for the games. SAISD would like to thank the SASSR and Matt Merritt, for celebrating with the district in our 2023-2024 District Celebration.

To stay up-to-date on San Angelo ISD, please visit the SAISD website at www.saisd.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.