Brazosport ISD’s District Teacher of the Year Chris McLeod was just announced as the Region 4 Secondary Teacher of the Year in front of teachers, principals, and superintendents from throughout the greater Houston area during the annual Region 4 Teachers of the Year Luncheon & Awards Ceremony.
Teachers of the Year represent the kind of passion and purpose that defines the best in the profession. Region Teacher of the Year is the highest honor that a region can bestow upon a teacher. Being named as the Region 4 Teacher of the Year, Chris will now move on to the state level along with 19 other regional Secondary Teachers of the Year from across Texas. The interviewing and selection process by the state will happen in early fall.
Chris McLeod teaches rocket engineering to students in grades 10-12 at Brazoswood High School. He shared that he believes every student has a place and purpose in his classroom and can find meaning in both the daily work and large-scale projects that encompass the course. McLeod’s Rocketry III class just set a world record for high school hybrid rockets for their Goddard Horizon 1 rocket, which was launched at White Sands, New Mexico, in June. Their rocket traveled to the official height of 45,482 feet, breaking the previous record by 36,100 feet.
He describes his classroom, “as a place of collaboration and ‘organized chaos’ as groups dive into research, design, and fabrication, with teams routinely meeting with local industrial and manufacturing businesses as they develop their rockets.” Chris brings a wide range of knowledge and experience to his classroom with over eleven years of teaching experience, and a background of teaching Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, and other sciences.
When the surprise announcement was made that Chris had been named District Teacher of the Year during BISD’s annual staff recognition event, he thanked the teachers at the elementary and intermediate grade levels for inspiring students to want to be in programs such as rocketry. “There’s a lot of trust that is built into programs like ours where we have power tools… and go out into the desert to launch rockets, and I know that starts with inspiration at the younger levels. We wouldn’t be where we are without you.”
The Region 4 Education Service Center serves a seven-county area composed of 48 public school districts and 39 open-enrollment charter schools, representing more than 1.2 million students, 99,000 educators, and 1,500 campuses.
Teachers of the Year are first selected to represent their school. Then one secondary and one elementary Teacher of the Year is selected from across the district. District Teachers of the Year then submit essays and written application materials to the district’s regional service center (Region 4 in our case). The finalists were interviewed over the summer, and on August 4, 2022.
McLeod earned his Bachelor of Science in Marine Science from Texas A&M University. He currently serves on a safety review board for the Spaceport America Cup, which is an international university rocket competition.
We are proud of this achievement and extremely grateful to have outstanding teachers such as Chris who are passionate about their profession and the success of their students. And who are willing to share best practices with other educators at the district, regional, and state levels.
