Richardson ISD Selected as $100,000 Grand-Prize Winner in
2007 H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards

On May 7, 2007, Richardson Independent School District was named the outstanding large school district in the state of Texas by H-E-B Foundation. With a nod to National Teacher Appreciation Week, H-E-B recognized Richardson ISD for its exceptional work with children and awarded RISD with the 2007 H-E-B Excellence in Education Award.

The announcement was made in Austin and recognized over 39 educators and eight school districts across the state for their dedication to Texas children. Over 7,000 nominations were received for these prestigious awards. From those, an estimated 2,000 applications were completed and received. A team of judges reviewed the applications and narrowed those down to 223 semi-finalists who then went on to compete in a regional judging process.

Five regional judging panels comprised of former winners, administrators and university and community leaders selected the finalists. On a special visit to the schools on March 26 – April 10, the 39 finalists were notified of their status and were invited to compete on a state-wide level for larger cash prizes.

Eventually, only 8 finalists were left. Each finalist received $5,000, but all had hopes to receive an even larger prize. All finalists were invited to Austin for the final competition. While in Austin, the finalists endured personal interviews and much anticipation for the grand prize winner to be announced. Finally, the winner was announced and RISD was the one that prevailed. With this title came a check for $100,000 and bragging rights for a year.

According to the School Times Now newsletter, Dr. David Simmons said he could not be more proud of Richardson ISD. "Our talented teachers, administrators and support staff work incredibly hard to serve the children of our community, and it's so gratifying when those efforts are recognized on such a grand scale."

The H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards program was launched by the well-known Texas grocery chain in 2002 to highlight the outstanding practices of Texas public schools and spotlight and celebrate the work of Texas educators. This program has become the largest monetary program for educators in the state as well as one of the largest in the nation.