Summer Creek High School teacher Dwight Smith named District Teacher of the Year and wins $5,000 check sponsored by Robbins Chevrolet.
Willow Creek Elementary School teacher Emily Porter-Roy named Elementary Teacher of the Year and wins $2,500 check sponsored by United Community Credit Union.
Dwight Smith, criminal justice teacher at Summer Creek High School, is the Humble Independent School District and Secondary Teacher of the Year for 2021-2022. Smith won a $5,000 check sponsored by Robbins Chevrolet at the “Boots & Bling” event, orchestrated by the Humble ISD Education Foundation on April 16 at Stampede Houston.
Smith has been in education for 22 years. He joined Humble ISD in 2000 as a criminal justice teacher at Humble High School. In 2003, he served as an administrative intern at Humble High School. The next year, he returned as a criminal justice teacher at Humble High School. From 2007 to 2009, Smith served as an assistant principal at Ross Sterling Middle School. He moved to Summer Creek High School in 2009 where he has taught criminal justice. Smith, who grew up in Houston’s Fifth Ward, earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of Houston and his master’s from Sam Houston State University. Smith has a family style of teaching that encourages self-discipline, hard work, and student collaboration.
“I want to prepare my students for the next level in their lives, which may be college, military or vocational employment where collaboration is essential,” Smith said.
Emily Porter-Roy, kindergarten and first grade teacher at Willow Creek Elementary, is the 2021-2022 Elementary Teacher of the Year. Porter-Roy received a $2,500 check sponsored by United Community Credit Union.
Porter-Roy has been an educator for over 10 years. She joined Humble ISD in 2014 as a second grade teacher at Whispering Pines Elementary. In 2016 Porter-Roy taught second grade briefly at Hidden Hollow Elementary before moving on to Willow Creek Elementary where she has been teaching for the past five years. She earned her Bachelor of Science from Bowling Green State University. During the pandemic, Porter-Roy stepped up to teach kindergarten and first grade students virtually from both Willow Creek Elementary and Shadow Forest Elementary. By using what she calls “Pineapple Principles,” Porter-Roy teaches her students how to stand tall, how to embrace individuality, and how to be kind to others.
“I immersed myself in all that I could to connect with the families in my classroom because I felt in my heart that was the best way to teach,” Porter-Roy said.
Each year during the spring semester, Humble ISD schools choose a Teacher of the Year for its campus. The 2021-2022 Finalists and District Teachers of the Year were chosen by a district selection committee based upon essays and interviews in March and April. All District Finalists were honored on stage at “Boots & Bling” and walked away with a new Chromebook, donated by Micro Integration.
District Teacher of the Year Finalists are:
Elementary
Angela Yoder – Eagle Springs Elementary, Art
Lilliebeth Halling – Elm Grove Elementary, Pre-K/STEPS+
Hillary Crawford – Lakeland Elementary, 5th Grade Math/Science
Brooke Smart – Oak Forest Elementary, 5th Grade Math/Science
Emily Porter-Roy – Willow Creek Elementary, Kindergarten/1st Grade Reading, Math Science Social Studies
Secondary
Jennifer Tye – Creekwood Middle School, 6th Grade Social Studies, World Cultures
Corey Lenon – Timberwood Middle School, Culinary Arts
Jamie Morris – Kingwood High School, Pre-Calculus
Missi Taylor – Kingwood Park High School, Architecture/Construction/Engineering
Dwight Smith – Summer Creek High School, Criminal Justice
“Boots & Bling” benefits the Humble ISD Education Foundation’s Innovative Education grant program.
Pictured from left: School Board President Robert Sitton, Elementary Teacher of the Year Emily Porter-Roy, District and Secondary Teacher of the Year Dwight Smith, and School Board Vice President Martina Lemond Dixon.