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As the nation's eleventh largest school district, Dallas Independent School District serves more than 160,000 students who come from homes where 58 different languages are spoken.  Operating with a $1 billion dollar budget, DISDemploys 18,613 employees including 10,000 teachers in 220 schools.

Shannon Orchard Named DISD's 2000-01 Teacher Of The Year

20 Sep 2000

"I remember that once we believed our teachers loved us, then we were ready to learn about what our teachers loved."

Shannon Orchard, a teacher at the School for the Talented and Gifted at the Yvonne Ewell Townview Center, has been named Teacher of the Year for the Dallas Independent School District. The announcement was made Wednesday, September 20, at the May Dragon Restaurant, during a reception sponsored by the Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce of Dallas/Fort Worth.

Interim General Superintendent Robert Payton presented the coveted Golden Apple Award. Orchard also received $5,000 presented by Joe Chow, president of the Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce. Orchard has been a teacher for 4-1/2 years and will represent the Dallas schools in the Texas Teacher of the Year contest.

Her experience as an educator includes teaching at David Carter High School, her first teaching job. "I began teaching in the middle of a school year," says Orchard. "In my two and one-half years at that school, enrollment in my Honors Anatomy and Physiology class increased from thirty students in January 1996 to 130 students for the 1997-1998 school year.” Gradually, the high level of confidence her students experienced in her class gave them the confidence to try Advanced Placement courses.

She enjoys taking in new challenges such as developing an Advanced Placement Environmental Science program at her current school, the TAG Magnet at Townview, and taking students on interdisciplinary field trips. Orchard also teaches environmental science and statistics at the school.

“One of the biggest challenges we have now is that our students live in an instant gratification world,” says Orchard. “Some students get frustrated when they discover that learning and school projects take time. The challenge is getting them to appreciate the long-term learning process.”

Each DISD school is asked to select a Teacher of the Year, determined by vote of the faculty. Selection factors include teaching effectiveness, evidence of student achievement, excellence in instructional skills, involvement with students, parents and the community, continuing professional development and awareness of educational issues.

Teacher of the Year finalists are Victoria D. Farris, English teacher, Moises Molina High School; Alan Nguyen, who taught math at César Chávez Learning Center and is currently assistant principal at John Kennedy Learning Center; Jacqueline S. Payne, second grade ESL teacher, Anne Frank Elementary; and Rhonda L. Rutherford, W. E. Greiner Middle School, physical education teacher. Each teacher received a $1,000 check from the Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce which was presented at a social earlier in the year.