TEMPLE, Texas — A Temple ISD teacher is close to one of the highest education awards in the state.
According to Temple ISD, Kennedy-Powell Elementary kindergarten teacher JoMeka Gray has been named one of six finalists for the 2025 Texas Teacher of the Year Program presented by the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA).
Gray teaches math, science and social studies, according to the district, and has taught at TISD for eight years. She previously taught at Meredith-Dunbar Elementary, Thornton Elementary and Western Hills Elementary, as well as at Killeen ISD.
During her 12-year teaching career, Gray has also served as a mentor teacher and advocated for teachers across the state at the Texas Capitol, TISD said.
Gray has been named TISD District Teacher of the Year twice, in 2021 and 2024, the district said. She advanced to the statewide Teacher of the Year competition after winning Elementary Teacher of the Year honors from ESC Region 12 earlier this year.
“It is amazing to see the academic growth of a student from the first time they sat in your classroom until graduation,” Gray said. “We as teachers also get to celebrate students beyond academics such as losing their first tooth, reading their first sentence, playing their first instrument, catching their first ball and sometimes teaching their first child. This is the gift that allows the teacher to go beyond the classroom walls and make a stamp on society.”
Gray is reportedly one of three elementary teachers named as 2025 Texas Teacher of the Year finalists, joining Kevin Criss of Cambridge Elementary School in Alamo Heights ISD and Kristi Leff of Humphrey’s Highland Elementary School in Amarillo ISD.
The secondary teachers selected as finalists are reportedly Christine Mihealsick of Westwood High School in Round Rock ISD, Darla Morrow of James R. Brooks Middle School in Greenwood ISD and Melissa Farias Zuniga of New Braunfels High School in New Braunfels ISD.
The finalists were reportedly selected from 40 Regional Teachers of the Year by a panel of judges composed of representatives of Texas teacher associations and last year’s Texas Teacher of the Year.
The finalists will be interviewed on Oct. 24 by a panel of judges composed of representatives of educational leadership associations, community and business leaders, a member of the State Board for Educator Certification, a member of the State Board of Education and prior Texas Teachers of the Year, who will select two state-level winners, one Elementary and one Secondary Teacher of the Year, one of whom will represent Texas in the National Teacher of the Year program.
“Temple ISD educators have continued to set the standard for statewide accolades and notoriety in the last five years to include our school board, a middle school principal, superintendent, finance department and our teachers,” said Dr. Bobby Ott, superintendent of Temple schools. “We believe when you compete and stack up at the state level everything else takes care of itself locally. Mrs. Gray is the dictionary definition of a master teacher and represents the perfect combination of providing a traditional education, mixed with innovative practices and true compassion. She also extends these qualities outside the classroom with parents, mentee teachers and in advocacy efforts that support Texas teachers.”
“Texas teachers perform miracles every day as they inspire children even in the most challenging of times,” said Kevin Brown, executive director of TASA, which has coordinated the Texas Teacher of the Year program since 2011. “Public school teachers are critical to the success of individual children and our society as a whole. Those who choose to teach are national heroes, and these six finalists are the best among them. They have distinguished themselves among thousands of outstanding, dedicated teachers across our nation who have answered the call to serve."
More about the TASA and Teacher of the Year program can be found on their website at this link.
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