Last year was a tough year for all of us but some of the real heroes were the teachers. Teachers already have a tough job at not only educating our kids but challenging them and inspiring them. Then add a pandemic into the mix and learning different avenues to reach our youth and you've got yourself some heroes.

The Texarkana Rotary Clubs have presented these awards for 28 years! They just recently announced the winners of the Teachers of the Year in all the Texarkana school districts. Here are the winners for the Pleasant Grove Independent School District.

Congratulations to the 2020 Pleasant Grove Teachers of The Year.

Pleasant Grove Elementary School- Susan Maynard

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Mrs. Maynard is a fifth-grade teacher at Pleasant Grove Intermediate School. She's been teaching in our area since 1994 when she was a kindergarten teacher at Liberty Eylau Elementary School. In 1997 she won Campus Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Maynard has taught at Pleasant Grove Intermediate School since 2017.   According to a press release, Mrs. Maynard says,

“Developing independent readers and promoting a love of reading in my students has always been my passion.”

 

Pleasant Grove High School- Thomas Strawn

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Thomas Strawn has been a science teacher at Pleasant Grove High School since 2017. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Texas A&M University- Texarkana He teaches AP Environmental Science, Biology, and Biology Honors.

“I teach lessons and tie content into that which is real and accessible to all students, Mr. Strawn says. “Most of who I teach will not become scientists, but my goal is to connect them to local natural phenomena in a way that they become quality citizens, informed voters, and sound stewards of whatever charge they are given care of in their futures."

 

Congratulations to the Teacher's of The Year at these Pleasant Grove Campuses:

Margaret Fischer Davis Elementary School-Jasmine Gill

Pleasant Grove Intermediate School-Haleigh Garrett

Pleasant Grove Middle School-Irene Stanfill

Pleasant Grove High School-Samantha Durham

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LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

 

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