Region 4 Teachers of the Year
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sheldon, Sweeny Educators Named Region 4 Teachers of the Year
HOUSTON (August 1, 2024)— Taylor Brock, Sheldon Lake Elementary School (Sheldon ISD), and Jessica Brink, Sweeny High School (Sweeny ISD), have been named the 2024 Region 4 Teachers of the Year. Brock and Brink are the Houston-area nominees for the Texas Teachers of the Year program, which is facilitated by the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA).
 Taylor Brock Sheldon Lake Elementary School Sheldon ISD |
Jessica Brink |
“Teachers are the most important factor in a student’s education,” said Dr. Rodney Watson, Executive Director of Region 4 Education Service Center. “Every single teacher deserves recognition for the hard work they do each day, and I want to say a special congratulations to our Region 4 Teachers of the Year who received top honors and will certainly go on to represent Texas well at the state level. I am really proud of what they’ve achieved!”
Brock, who teaches fifth grade Reading, Writing, and Social Studies, holds a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies from Texas Southern University. She is the founding director and sponsor of the Eagle Elite Dance Team, which recently placed first in district competition.
Brink teaches high school biology, AP Biology, and AP Environmental Science and is a dual credit instructor. A veteran teacher, she holds a Bachelor of Science in History from Texas Woman’s University and a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction, with an emphasis in secondary science, from the University of Texas, Arlington.
The Region 4 Teachers of the Year program recognizes outstanding teachers from 48 school districts and charter schools across the Houston area. A panel of impartial judges reviews applications and determines finalists who are then interviewed. One elementary and one secondary Region 4 Teacher of the Year is then selected to advance to the Texas Association of School Administrators state competition where they will be considered for the Texas Teacher of the Year award.
TASA will announce the Texas Teachers of the Year on October 25, 2024, during an awards ceremony at the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center in Round Rock. One individual will be designated the Texas Teacher of the Year and will be Texas’ nominee for National Teacher of the Year.
Brock and Brink were selected from a pool of outstanding finalists from across Houston:
Elementary
- Shaquille Dixon, Sugar Mill Elementary School, Fort Bend ISD
- Jaymee Herrington, Cimarron Elementary School, Katy ISD
- Shaniea Pennygraph-Compaore, Maxine Phelan Elementary School, Lamar CISD
- Karen Pointer, Southside Elementary School, Angleton ISD
- Jasmine Thomas, Autumn Creek Elementary School, Humble ISD
Secondary
- Ebonie Ballesteros, Southwest Public Schools College and Career Preparatory Academy, Southwest Public Schools
- Sara Burke, James E. Taylor High School, Katy ISD
- Cristian Driver, B.F. Terry High School, Lamar CISD
- Adrian Rivas, Dickinson High School, Dickinson ISD
- Katie Taylor, Bayside Intermediate School, Clear Creek ISD
- Tara Ybarra, La Porte High School, La Porte ISD
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About Region 4 Education Service Center
Region 4 Education Service Center (Region 4) is one of 20 regional education service centers established by the Texas Legislature in 1967 to assist school districts and charter schools in improving efficiencies and student performance. Regional education service centers are nonregulatory, intermediate education units. Texas Education Code, Chapter 8, gives each school district the opportunity to voluntarily be served by and participate with a regional education service center.
Region 4 serves an eight-county area comprised of 48 public school districts and 41 open-enrollment charter schools, representing more than 1.2 million students, 165,000 educators, and 1,500 campuses. To learn more, visit esc4.net.