Cove ISD honors 41 starmakers Posted On: Friday, May. 30 2008 06:12 AM By Joshua Winata
Killeen Daily Herald

COPPERAS COVE – Billy Chellette was in fourth grade struggling through the accelerated reading program when his teacher Lisa Wilson put a hand on his shoulder and offered him a simple piece of encouragement: "Don't quit."

He didn't, and wound up getting almost twice as many points as he needed.

"When I was in elementary school, I really didn't care much," Chellette said. "She made me see education and learning can be interesting. She made it interesting, and ever since, I've kept that in the back of my mind."

Now a senior at Copperas Cove High School, he still hasn't forgotten Wilson's advice and is now headed to Central Texas College next year to study nursing. He would be the first in his family to get a degree.

Forty-one Cove students, representing the top 10 percent of the graduating class, had the opportunity to honor the teachers who had impacted their lives at the Starmakers 2008 Academic Recognition Banquet on Thursday in the Copperas Cove Civic Center.

The inaugural banquet is the signature event for the newly established Copperas Cove Education Foundation, which was formed in March.

The foundation, made up of a network of community and school administrators, aims to support innovative educational programs for the students and teachers of the Copperas Cove Independent School District, especially ones who otherwise could not be funded under the normal operating budget.

"We want to do unique and different things and promote excellence," said Bill Alexander, Education Foundation vice president for marketing and events. "That's really what this is all about."

So who were the "starmakers" of the evening? According to Alexander, everyone involved in the educational process.

"The teachers are starmakers," he said. "But the students are their own starmakers as well."

Before the students and their selected teachers were publicly recognized, CCISD Superintendent Dr. Rose Cameron congratulated the senior class on its accomplishments, including securing about $5 million in scholarships.

"The students you are looking at tonight are success stories," she said. "Our future is in good hands."

For many students, it was a single, defining assignment or a class that impacted their future goals. For Cove senior Brianna Prater, who plans to study accounting and medicine at Baylor University in Waco, it was role-playing as a banker in Coleen Timmons' sixth-grade class.

Kimberlee Wilberg and Megan York, who will major in business administration and accounting, traced their interest back to Lois Richardson's 10th-grade recordkeeping course.

Other students, like Ryan Stites and Tasha Shouse, were so inspired by their respective mentors, John Murray and Brandon Blaylock, that they decided to study education and become teachers themselves.

High school English teacher John Jackson was selected by four students as the teacher who had most impacted their lives. Seniors Alex Langenberg, Daniel Garrett, Molly Bundschuh and valedictorian Elizabeth Olds praised Jackson for pushing them to challenge themselves with his innovative teaching style.

"My legacy – or any educator's legacy – is having a student that's successful," Jackson said. "People say it's an honorable profession, but it's only honorable if our charges can find it within themselves to advance society."

As for Wilson, who taught Chellette in both second and fourth grade, being selected was a complete surprise. She hadn't seen Chellette in almost four years although they occasionally e-mail, but she could hardly keep her tears or pride from showing as she gave her former student a hug.

"I have always been very proud of him. This is quite an honor to honor him," Wilson said. "He was a hard worker and still is. This proves it."

Contact Joshua Winata at jpwinata@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7476.