NBA great and Pine Bluff native Joe Barry Carroll has started a new awards program for teachers in the Pine Bluff School District.
The district on Monday announced its finalists for the Joe Barry Carroll Teacher Awards. According to awards spokesperson Tara Coyt, students and parents nominated 50 teachers from the elementary, junior high and high school levels, and a committee within the district narrowed the list down to nine teachers, three for each level.
A teacher at each of the three levels selected by Carroll’s foundation will receive a cash award, the amount of which has not yet been revealed, at the PBSD’s annual Teacher of the Year awards dinner May 6 at the Arkansas River Education Service Cooperative. All finalists will receive a letter from Carroll, a copy of his art book “Black American Voices: Shared Culture, Values and Emotions” featuring his artwork and that from the Antonio and Betty Zamora Collection of African Art, and a plaque.
The honorees include:
Pine Bluff High School: Crystal Barnes, Cheryl Scott and Tykesha Cross;
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Pine Bluff Junior High School: Yulanda Lassiter, Shiwanda Perry and Danyell Hughes;
Elementary: Patricia Burnett (James Matthews), Carmen Bell (James Matthews) and Phylicia Dyer (Broadmoor).
Mary Carroll, Joe Barry’s sister-in-law, will attend the ceremony to represent him.
“It’s an extension of what I’ve done historically,” Carroll said. “I’ve been trying to do something that might make a difference since I graduated college, which would have put me in the NBA. I’m grateful to teachers. I’ve had a series of projects with students and supporting afterschool programs. It’ s not just me. It’s a lot of guys doing these things. I like to share the information with hopes it might inspire other teachers. It’s really not even about the monetary part. It’s letting people know you care.”
Carroll grew up in Pine Bluff and attended Indiana Street Elementary, naming Sue Hatcher and Bessie Jordan as teachers who inspired him. He left Pine Bluff after attending seventh grade at Southeast Junior High and moved to Denver, where he finished high school and from where he went onto Purdue University in 1976.
Carroll led Purdue to the 1980 Final Four and became the No. 1 overall draft pick in the NBA by the Golden State Warriors, building an 11-year professional career. He was an NBA All-Star in 1987.
The artist and wealth advisor has established a similar awards program in Denver and Atlanta, his current residence.
“Teachers have always been my favorite. How lucky if we get that teacher early in our lives and they look us in the face and tell me they expect great things from us,” Carroll said.
The district also named its building teachers of the year, who are eligible for the district’s Teacher of the Year honor:
Pine Bluff High School: Martell Huntley;
Pine Bluff Junior High School: Evette Johnson;
James Matthews Elementary: Patricia Burnett;
34th Avenue Elementary: Carol Gardner;
Southwood Elementary: Benjamin Davis;
Broadmoor Elementary: Kandace Sanders; and
Forrest Park/Greenville Pre-K: Jasmine Thompson.
Three elementary students received Showing Your Stripes certificates for modeling characteristics based on the Capturing Kids’ Hearts model: Annisa Jenkins, Journee Jones and Nova Ridgell.
Two high school students, X’zaeviun Sims and Omarion Tucker, were honored for their accomplishments at the JAG (Jobs for America’s Graduates) National Career Development Conference in Indianapolis. Sims was elected president for the National Career Association and Tucker won first place in financial literacy.
Sims said he will represent 8,000 students in JAG.
