GCISD is excited to announce that Heritage Middle School teacher Joe Parthemore was named the recipient of the Rising Star Award at the H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards last weekend. The statewide award goes to one elementary and one secondary teacher each year and recognizes teachers with less than 10 years of experience. The two winners each receive a $5,000 check for themselves and a $5,000 grant for their school.
Parthemore, a 6th-grade Accelerated Math and 8th-grade Fundamentals of Computer Science and Coding teacher, is in his third year at HMS and his seventh year in GCISD having previously taught at Cannon Elementary and Dove Elementary.
Parthemore is no stranger to being recognized for his teaching. In 2018, he received the GCISD and Region 11 Teacher of the Year awards and was one of the top finalists for the state teacher of the year award. Parthemore has co-authored two national publications and has been recognized in Fort Worth Magazine for his impact in the classroom. He attributes these accolades to his teaching style, which is more applicable to real-life circumstances.
“I was always the kid asking why. Why are we doing this? Why are we learning this?” Parthemore said. “I’m more of a real-world, problem-solver type teacher. So, I enjoy making things really practical for the students, so they understand why they’re learning what they’re learning.”
Applying this method to his math class — which includes teaching percentages, statistics, and data — Parthemore teaches strategies for students to find out how much they should tip without using a calculator and whether Amazon reviews are truly trustworthy.
H-E-B launched the Excellence in Education Awards program in cooperation with the Texas Association of School Administrators in 2002 as a positive way to support public education in Texas. It has become the largest monetary program for educators in the state, spotlighting best practices and celebrating the passion and creativity of Texas educators.
H-E-B asks customers, Partners (employees) and community members to nominate teachers, principals, districts, early childhood facilities and school boards in Texas. Each nominee is sent an invitation to complete an application online and is asked about their professional experiences, educational philosophies and achievements both in and out of the classroom.