HMS teachers, from left, Cathy Klepper, Jerry Morris, Dina McKinley, Cindy Chism and Jack Young
were honored April 30 at the Veteto Excellence in Education banquet. HMS public information officer Starla
Jones, right, also was honored with a director's award for her help in
promoting the accomplishments of Hobbs teachers and students. Click on the teacher names, above, to view
the winners at work in their classroom or on the picture at right for banquet highlights.
Pam Randall, a Freshman High School math teacher, is the latest HMS employee to obtain her National Board Certification, a credential recognized by all 50 states as a mark of distinction. She is presented an award for the accomplishment by Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Pam Thompson.
Teri Price, Denise Sims, Brenda Watkins, Marcia Reber and Diana Roper were the 2012 recipients of the Veteto Excellence in Teaching Awards - announced at a May 10 banquet.Click on the picture to view banquet highlights or the teachers' names for classroom highlights.
Alternative Learning Center teacher Wilma Brooks and Mills sixth-grade teacher Wendy Haggerton were each awarded the Donley Excellence in Education award during a May 8 banquet saluting Lea County teachers.
The 2011 Veteto award winners are pictured.
HHS's No. 1
graduate in 2011, Kelsey Koenig, chose Donna Johns as her most influential educator. Johns also won the prestigious Donley Excellence in Education Award a week earlier.
Five teachers were recipients of the prestigious Veteto Excellence in Teaching crystal apples on May 11, 2010. For more on the reasons they are outstanding instructors in the HMS district, click on the picture.
HHS math teacher Rene Cantu received the first-ever Donley Excellence in Education Award at an educator banquet on May 6. The award was inspiried by Libby Donley (pictured), daughter of Mike Donley -- one of the first HMS superintendents and a pioneer in New Mexico Education. Click on picture for more.
In addition to calling HHS Assistant Principal Ann Lynn McIlroy ma'am, you can also call her doctor come May 8 when she earns a Ed.D. degree from New Mexico State University. For more, click here.
Just a decade after earning her teaching degree, Dixie Vejil is New Mexico’s Elementary School Principal of the Year. Vejil, principal of Jefferson Elementary, was honored by the New Mexico Elementary Principals Association.
Gail Bryant, principal of Mills Elementary School, was recently recognized by the New Mexico Educational Office Professional Association as the state's Administrator of the Year. Bryant is pictured with NMEOP representative Mona Mroz.
Hobbs High School Assistant Principal Ron Haggerton was named New Mexico's Assistant Principal of the Year by an organization of his peers. Haggerton, a former junior high and high school teacher, was in Albuquerque to accept the recognition.
The 2009 Veteto Teaching in Excellence Award winners -- in addition to public recognition at the annual Employee Awards Ceremony -- also pocketed $5,000 each.
Laura Greer, left, a Houston science teacher, and Jodie Day, a second-grade teacher at Sanger, are the district's most recent Golden Apple recipients. The Golden Apple is awarded each year to a total of seven teachers across the state of New Mexico who are nominated by peers, parents or students. A screening and interview process narrows the field to the final seven - who are honored in Albuquerque and awarded a cash stipend.
HMS boasts 10 teachers with National Board Certification, a credential recognized by all 50 states as a mark of distinction – similar to the way the medical, engineering and accounting profess
ions recognize expertise. Certification is achieved through a rigorous, performance-based assessment that typically takes more than a year to complete and measures what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do. The district's master teachers are (top left), Kimberly Drake, Jo Anne Clarkson, Debbie Dean (not pictured), Sheri 
Williams (center), Wendy Haggerton, Loretta Milligan and Penny Norris (right), and (left), Julia Chaney, Dr. Cynthia Trevino and Laura Greer.
Araceli Armendariz, who attended Hobbs schools and began her HMS career as an aide, was named New Mexico's Dual Language Teacher of the Year at a recent state conference. Armendariz was recognized for being an outstanding teacher in an innovative program that teaches Spanish to English students and English to Spanish students.
Margie Sotelo, left, was named Office Professional of the Year and Karen Loving, right, Administrator of the Year by the New Mexico Educational Office Professional Association. Sotelo is an administrative assistant at Dalton Tabor while Loving is principal at Broadmoor Elementary. Hobbs Educational Office Professional Association President Bonnie Juarez, center, said the pair will be recognized at a NMEOP state banquet scheduled for Nov. 8 in Hobbs.
Nominated by parents, students and their co-workers, five HMS teachers took home Veteto Foundation Excellence in Teaching Awards on Tuesday night. Along with an inscribed crystal apple and book of quotes, the teachers also picked up a check for $5,000 - each.
Diane Tasker was on hand when her dad, Ralph Tasker, was among the first class inducted into the Lea County Athletic Hall of Fame. In addition to Tasker, other inductees with an HMS connection included former School Board President Tuffy Cooper, HHS track star Ralph (Slatz) Baggett and HHS basketball player Bill Bridges, who went on to a career in the pros.
Clockwise from right, Loretta Milligan, Jon Gilcrease, Colleen Smart, Lisa Enriquez and Ruby Wooten won crystal apples and $5,000 checks as receipients of the first-ever Veteto Foundation Excellence in Teaching awards. Sponsored by local businessmen Burton and Mark Veteto, the annual award recognizes outstanding teachers in the Hobbs Municipal Schools.