Feb 13, 2026 | TXTOY Perspective
by Vickie Wright, 2026 Texas Teacher of the Year As school leaders, you already know what it looks like when educators empty themselves daily for children: the extra hours, the carefully crafted lessons, the quiet encouragements that shape confidence and futures....
Oct 21, 2025 | TXTOY Perspective
by Kristi Leff, 2025 Texas Elementary Teacher of the Year Every child is born with the heart of a scientist. From the toddler who drops a spoon from the high chair again and again, to the curious fourth grader who cannot stop asking “why,” the instinct to wonder,...
Nov 11, 2024 | TXTOY Perspective
by Taniece Thompson-Smith, 2024 Texas Teacher of the Year It was the end of the week. I rushed out of my classroom then stopped in my tracks when I remembered that I had left my lunch containers, untouched, in my mini fridge in the classroom. I guess I knew what I was...
Jul 15, 2024 | TXTOY Perspective
by Taniece Thompson-Smith, 2024 Texas Teacher of the Year “… I say to you, my young friends, doors are opening to you — doors of opportunities that were not open to your mothers and your fathers — and the great challenge facing you is to be ready to face these doors...
May 3, 2024 | TXTOY Perspective
by Naveen Cunha, 2024 Texas Secondary Teacher of the Year The tradition of giving an apple to a teacher started in the 1700s when poor families gave teachers baskets of fruit and vegetables from their farms. Since then, it has become a symbol of our profession. What...
Mar 5, 2024 | TXTOY Perspective
by Taniece Thompson-Smith, 2024 Texas Teacher of the Year “Now this is what I want to do with my life!” was the sentence that reverberated throughout the classroom, as students loquaciously exchanged ideas about sedimentary rocks and fossil fuels. Like a...
