“I have been doing this a long time, and Micah Rice is the best I have ever seen,” said Michael French, Terrell ISD Superintendent. “When you love kids and have his work ethic and passion, great things happen for students.”
“I am proud to have Micah on our staff,” said Jay Thompson, Terrell High School Principal. “We are better everyday because of his desire to ensure all students feel like they are apart of something bigger to make themselves better.”
Rice, a Terrell native and a 2003 graduate of Terrell High School, began his teaching career as a seventh grade English teacher at Herman Furlough Jr. Middle School in Fall 2015. His classroom sat directly across the hallway from his former middle school English teacher and mentor, Cynthia Candler. In a video interview with Region 10, Rice paid tribute to his former teachers, specifically Candler, as an educator who greatly influenced his passion to teach.
“I am a teacher, because I had great teachers,” said Rice. “She legitimately changed my life. She invested in me, she bought into me, and I just wanted to one day be able to do the same.”
Visually stunned upon hearing his name announced as the winner, Rice shared that he never expected to receive such a tremendous honor.
“I am extremely humbled,” said Rice. “Teaching is the most rewarding thing I have ever done, so to be recognized for that is hard to fathom.”
Also honored at the event for her outstanding achievements last school year was Terrell ISD Elementary Teacher of the Year, Katherine Berger.
“I could not be more proud of Ms. Berger for representing Terrell ISD as our Elementary District Teacher of the Year,” said Superintendent French. “As a second year teacher, she has already achieved incredible success in her classroom and on her campus, and I look forward to her future accomplishments.
District and Region 10 and 11 Teachers of the Year, including Berger and Rice, will be recognized during an on-field presentation before the first pitch at the Texas Rangers baseball game on Friday, August 16 for Teacher Appreciation Night.