Taylor Seniors Awarded 122K in Scholarships

tcrow@taylorisd.org    Thanks to the generosity of the Taylor Community, Taylor ISD awarded local scholarships to sixty-seven seniors totaling $122,000. Scholarships were announced in a virtual ceremony this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Rotary Scholars Recognized at Virtual Event

tcrow@taylorisd.org    As many end of school events transitioned to a virtual stage during the coronavirus pandemic, the Rotary Club of Taylor held its annual scholars ceremony online to celebrate the top ten percent of Taylor’s graduating class of 2020. Certificates were delivered to students, and the link to the virtual ceremony was shared by email.

Mallard Mania Parade Celebrates Classroom Grants

tcrow@taylorisd.org      Closing school because of a pandemic didn’t stop the Taylor Educational Enrichment (TEE) Foundation from celebrating the 2020 grant recipients in true Mallard Mania style.

Taylor Pre-k Teacher Retires

tcrow@taylorisd.org    Joanne Piskator began teaching during her senior year in high school. As the daughter of a missionary, she had previously taught Sunday school classes at her father’s churches. She was also fluent in Spanish. So, when the private school she attended in New Mexico was unable to find a Spanish teacher for the elementary grades, they asked her to take on that role. 

“I loved it, I’ve always loved teaching,” Piskator said. “CBS had a morning church show and they interviewed me because it was unusual to see a student teaching. I taught Spanish that whole year. My mother helped me with the curriculum because she was a teacher, too.”

A third generation educator, Piskator continued her employment as a teacher soon after entering college. 

“I got accepted into this wonderful program at New Mexico State University where you start student teaching six months into college and you get paid,” Piskator said. “That really helped me decide that I wanted to teach.”

After a year of college, Piskator got married and moved to Texas where she finished her degree at the University of Texas. After college, she began teaching in Taylor in 1977 at Twelfth Street School, an elementary campus that was located on Twelfth Street between Davis and Sycamore. Principal Ivan Leschber hired her to teach homebound and resource, and she worked with well-known Taylor teacher, Abby Johnson. During this time, she completed requirements through the Region 13 Education Service Center to obtain her bilingual certification. 

After two years, Piskator left to take care of family needs at home. In 1994, she interviewed with principal Tim Crow at Northside Elementary School and returned to Taylor to teach pre-k/bilingual for the next twenty-six years. 

“Pre-k was very exciting because I felt like the pre-k teacher is the first person that opens the whole world to them,” Piskator said. “They were so excited, they just loved everything and they love you. I remember going in on days that I didn’t feel well or something was going on at home and they just made me feel like the queen.” 

Piskator often played the guitar for her students, an activity that many rememberd long after being in her class. 

“One boy came up to me at a school event back around 2000, and told me how he loved when I played the guitar,” Piskator said. “He said my singing and playing the guitar influenced him to take band, and he loved band.” 

Two songs in particular have stood out as class favorites over the years. 

“The funniest song I played was Juancho Pancho Tiene Un Rancho, which was Old McDonald Had A Farm,” Piskator said. “They loved that song because it rhymed. Another one we always sang, and they learned it in English, was Jingle Bells. I used real bells and they got to hold them. The kids reacted the same every year to that song, they just loved it.”

Watching her students grow up has been a highlight of Piskator’s twenty-six years of teaching pre-k in Taylor. She has been invited to quinceanera celebrations, and often sees former students around town. 

 “One time we went out to eat and the hostess at the restaurant was one of my students,” Piskator said. “They always remember me, and that always excites me. This young lady was going to college to become a nurse and that just sent chills down my back.”

Piskator has kept a notebook with every class photo over the years. In the early days, she taught two half-day pre-k classes every day, before pre-k became a full day program. While science had never been one of her favorite subjects, she grew to love the topic after seeing it through the eyes of her students. 

“The kids just loved anything about insects and animals and they got me excited about it,” Piskator said. “I didn’t think I would even like science, but I loved it. That’s why I was so interested in the science lab and wrote a TEE Grant to buy supplies for it. That will be my legacy to leave at THJ.”

With the 2020-2021 school year about to start, Piskator’s advice for new teachers is to ask for help from their team, and to not become overwhelmed. 

“Teachers spend so much time on the way the classroom looks, which is important, but it’s the kids that are the most important and they enjoy the simplest things,” Piskator said.  It’s very important that you get help from the other teachers and principal. I am forever grateful for Susan Moreno who got me going. It’s a team effort.” 

Now that she’s retired, Piskator said that she would like to join the Texas Naturalists and complete the 200 hours of study they provide. She and her husband would also like to travel and participate in mission work.

 

 “My husband has been working on his masters in divinity,” Piskator said. “We actually found a program where we’d fit in really well, but with the pandemic they aren’t even looking at it right now. He would teach Latin American pastors theology, and I would teach the mothers how to set up a pre-k school. That’s our dream, traveling and short term mission work.”

Piskator said she has especially enjoyed teaching bilingual pre-k because of the family involvement and support. 

“I loved working with the bilingual kids because of the parents. They took their child’s education very seriously and that meant a lot to me. I loved my job and that made it very hard to retire. I worked my whole career here and I am definitely Once A Duck Always A Duck.”  

Legacy Garden Enhances Learning

tcrow@taylorisd.org   Nestled in the heart of downtown Taylor, on the campus of Legacy Early College High School, is a small haven for bees, bumblebees, butterflies, birds, and small wildlife.