Cornerstone Academy’s Maurine Richter was named winner of the Christa McAuliffe In Search of Excellence Award during the Houston West Chamber of Commerce Teacher of the Year and Business Partnership Awards Luncheon. The luncheon was held May 15 at the Omni Houston Hotel Westside.
A longtime district language arts and social studies teacher, Maurine served during the past year as SBISD Secondary Teacher of the Year. Cornerstone Academy is one of the state’s top ranking district public charter middle schools.
The Christa McAuliffe Award is issued by Houston West Chamber of Commerce judges to teachers in elementary, secondary and post-secondary schools that best exemplify the spirit, energy and love of learning of Christa McAuliffe, the first member of the NASA Teacher in Space Project. McAuliffe perished in the Space Shuttle Challenger accident.
In separate news, two SBISD partners won honors at the annual luncheon – Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center, which provides high school students with valuable onsite educational opportunities, and StudioWorks, which is an internship partner with The Guthrie Center.
A teacher for 28 years, Maurine has taught seventh grade at Cornerstone Academy for five years. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, she has taught at several other SBISD campuses, including Nottingham, Housman and Woodview elementary schools, and Spring Forest and Spring Woods middle schools.
Earlier this month, Maurine spoke to SBISD leaders and employees about her year as a Teacher of the Year during the district’s annual Service Awards. Here is what she said to attendees there:
“Teachers, administrators, school board members and school staffs: You are the instruments for these amazing students who produce the music of life. I am so thankful and humbled to have represented you this past year as the Secondary Teacher of the Year.
“I am grateful that someone heard the music coming from my classroom and I celebrate the symphony of the year and look forward to hearing even more music from our students, for a generation and for a lifetime. Thank you for being an instrument that allows the music to be heard,” she said.
SBISD 2008 Elementary Teacher of the Year Maria Solorzano was nominated for the same Chamber award in the elementary category. She has taught bilingual third-grade students at Edgewood Elementary for the past five years.
Several hundred people attended the recently held 19th annual awards luncheon, which honors educators from Alief, Houston and Katy school districts, too.
Jeannie Bollinger is president and CEO of the Houston West Chamber. The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Rod Paige, the nation’s seventh U.S. Secretary of Education.