The Escambia County Council of Parent and Teacher Association (ECCPTA) held their annual awards ceremony at Heritage Hall in Pensacola on May 12. The gathering included Council officers, Escambia County School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas and School Board members Patty Hightower and Kevin Adams, members of individual school PTAs and PTSAs (Parent, Teacher and Student Associations) as well as County Commissioner Jeff Bergosh.
Superintendent Thomas thanked the ECCPTA for their continued stellar support of local schools, teachers and students.
“Thirty one chapters raised over $865,000 this year and performed over 78,000 community service hours this year,†announced ECCPTA President Michelle Salzman.
Award presenters shared story after story of the outstanding events and programs various chapters have conducted this school year. A few standouts included Cordova Park Elementary School’s four week-long, school wide STEAM (Science, technology, Engineering, Art and Math) programs that won the Innovations Award.
Florida State PTA President Cindy Gerhardt was on hand to bring greetings to her Escambia County friends. She was also pleased to hear that the ECCPTA had created a new award named for her state-wide initiative, All Children Matter. “ALL children matter,†she explained, “Not just children in schools with active PTAs.â€
N.B. Cook Elementary School won the new “All Children Matter†award for their program that selected a different school to support in special ways each month.
The other awards were:
Outstanding Program of the Year – Primary: Beulah Elementary School
Outstanding Program of the Year – Secondary: Jim Bailey Middle School
Communications Excellence – Primary: Beulah Elementary School
Communications Excellence – Secondary: Ferry Pass Middle School
Outstanding Principal of the Year – Primary: Dr. Tama Vaughn
Outstanding Principal of the Year – Secondary: Sherri Mims, Ferry Pass Middle School
Unit of the Year: Pensacola Beach Elementary School
Volunteer of the Year – Primary: Amy Diaz, Pleasant Grove Elementary School
Volunteer of the Year – Secondary: Lisa Foster, Ferry Pass Middle School
Diversity & Inclusion Award: McArthur Elementary School
Mentor a PTA Award: McArthur Elementary School
(Mentored West Pensacola Elementary School’s new PTA)
Outstanding Newsletter of the Year: Cordova Park Elementary School
Outstanding Yearbook: Lipscomb Elementary School
Citizen of the Year Award: Dennis Mills