2024 Secondary Teachers and Staff of the Year

Posted Date: 05/03/2024

Congratulations to our 2023-24 Secondary Teachers and Staff of the Year!

Quinn Middle School Teacher of the Year: Jonathan Bruce 

Mr. Bruce is an Interventionist at Quinn Middle School. This is his eighth year at Rapoport Academy.

What others say about Mr. Bruce:

• Mr. Bruce is a great support to many at the Rapoport Annex and Quinn buildings. He has a creative way of teaching students and captivating our students' engagement. He has also helped with tutoring and shows the students about the garden. 
• Jonathan has worked hard, not only with the 5th-grade team, but across campus to help improve the quality and beauty of our spaces. He also works hard with the students to help them achieve. 
• Nearly all of the fun projects we've done in science class this year were either prompted or completely planned by Mr. Bruce. He starts a lot of sentences with "what if..." & it is always interesting to see what he comes up with. 
• Jonathan is one of the most creative and intelligent teachers I have met– I think he deserves this recognition.  
• Mr. Bruce works to incorporate creativity and high expectations for students into every part of his lessons. He is always willing to help his fellow teachers, and he has cheerfully adjusted to every new challenge he has faced throughout the year. 
• Mr. Bruce always comes up with creative activities that incorporate skills that students will use into real-life products and results that they can be proud of after completing them.

Meyer High School Teacher of the Year: Lina Pelaez

Mrs. Pelaez is a Spanish teacher at Meyer High School. This is her fifth year at Rapoport Academy.

What others say about Mrs. Pelaez:

• She is one of the most supportive teachers we have– she is consistent, kind, respects the rules  of our school, and develops amazing relationships with the kids! 
• Mrs. Pelaez works diligently every day to ensure all students have the opportunity to be successful both in the classroom and outside of it. 
• She consistently demonstrates an unparalleled dedication to her tasks. 
• Ms. Pelaez is always willing to go above and beyond. She is always positive and supportive. The amount of verbal engagement, of all students, in her class is incredible. She found meticulous ways to collect data on her students and creative ways to collect and share SLO data, for instance.
• Mrs. Pelaez is always exhibiting great respect for her peers and students which really helps set the tone for the school, and she is always wearing a smile on her face.
• Anytime I see her she says hello and asks how I'm doing. When talking to her, I know she's genuinely listening and wants to know how I'm doing. She also shows the same respect to her students.

Secondary Staff of the Year: Nadine Cobbs

Mrs. Cobbs is a custodian at our secondary campus. This is her tenth year at Rapoport Academy. 

What others say about Mrs. Cobbs:

• She always goes above and beyond in everything she does. Nadine helps out in incredible ways beyond just being a janitor/ cleaning. 
• Nadine not only keeps our halls clean, but keeps smiles on our faces and flowers in our gardens! It's evident that this is isn't just a job for her. She cares for us just like she would her own family. She gets it all done and more! :) 
• Nadine is always ready and willing to do whatever needs to be done.  She covers her own responsibilities and steps up even when what's being asked isn't in her job description.  And she really cares about the students.
• Mrs. Cobbs always demonstrates hard work with a smile on her face. She goes above and beyond her work description, for example she sits with the students during lunch and helps monitor the Annex during lunchtime. 
• Nadine is always working behind the scenes and even on the front lines when it comes to our students. She is willing to do whatever is needed even if it is outside the scope of her job description. She doesn't just keep things clean and tidy, she helps keep our students on the right track as well. She cares about all of our students and helping them make the best decisions in all circumstances. Our students never doubt that Ms. Nadine cares about them.
• To borrow from an old cliche, If you look up "hard work" on Wikipedia there is probably a picture of Ms. Nadine there.  
• "Nadine is always making herself available to help walk students across campus, help with lunch duty, and assist students take responsibility for messes they make by giving them the tools and advice on how to clean up their mess.

Secondary Staff of the Year: Hayden Hopkins

Mr. Hopkins is a Teaching Assistant at our secondary campus. This is his first year at Rapoport Academy.

What others say about Mr. Hopkins:

• Mr. Hopkins willingly stepped into a very difficult classroom mid-way through the year and worked really hard to make that classroom run as smoothly as possible. He is proactive with students. I could feel his dedication to hard work when he saw the benchmark scores he had to work to improve. He's always with kids after school so he just goes above and beyond with things that we expect in addition to taking on the teaching role.
• Hayden has stepped up this year and has really made a big impact on the kids. After helping us here in the 7th grade, Hayden then went on to take over 5th grade math when there was no one else to take that spot. He is the kind of person we want on the RAPS team.
• He is loved by all the students! Mr. Hopkins is willing to jump in anywhere we need him with a smile. 
• Hayden has really stepped up filling in as the 5th-grade math teacher. He is a role model for the students and has worked hard to ensure they are prepared for their STAAR test. He has been an asset to the team. 
• Adored by students, respected by staff, appreciated by administration. Hopkins is going to be a phenomenal future teacher and coach!
• Hayden came into a role not expecting that he would be teaching math. I know him from when I coached him at China Spring. He is an impactful leader who works hard and shows integrity every day. 
• Mr. Hopkins had a big task ahead of him, filling in a need in the 5th grade. He took on the responsibility and worked hard to ensure the 5th-grade students were not falling behind in math. He is a determined, diligent, and hard working teacher. He is an amazing asset to the Rapoport community.