Eastside Elementary held its annual Student Council Banquet and 14th Hall of Fame Ceremony Thursday evening.
The ceremony is organized each year to honor the year’s student council and induct deserving staff members — present and former — into the school’s Hall of Fame.
“When we think about leadership, we think about Jesus Christ and what he says about leadership in Mark 10:44: ‘And whosoever of you will be the chiefest shall be servant of all,’ ” Jason Gann said. “The greatest and chiefest among us are servants. Leadership is about service and I’ve worked throughout this year to emphasize to our student council members that, to be great leaders, you have to be great servants. You have to have the heart of the servant.”
Gann quoted the eighth United States President Martin Van Buren, who said, “It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you did not.”
“I’m happy to say that our student council members have fulfilled their works and jobs as members of our student government in the right way. They’ve done great and shown throughout the year that they have the hearts of servants and that they are willing to use their offices to serve their fellow students who elected them to serve in the roles in which they’ve served,” Gann continued.
Student Council President Lorelei Livesay followed after Gann, welcoming guests and providing a look back at the year of hard work she and the rest of the council put in.
“Throughout the year, we held monthly meetings where we came together as a student council to make plans for how we could serve our school better. We shared ideas, listened to each other and made plans to serve our school and community,” Livesay said. “We reached out to our community and collected items in a school-wide competition to make bags for the Tennessee Children’s Home and Willow Branch Health and Rehabilitation Center. We collected a total of 2,138 items. It was a powerful experience to give back and see the smiles on their faces. I’m proud of everything we’ve done together. We truly made a difference.”
Gann was given an award for his sponsorship and dedication by the student council in addition to a $40 gift card to Chicken Chef.
Student council members presenting awards during the banquet included President Lorelei Livesay, Vice President Natalee Herren, Secretary Izabella Gretzinger, Treasurer Danny Valencia and Sponsor Jason Gann. In addition to them, other members of the student council are Natalee Herren, Yolanda Beals, Maks Young, Shelby Hutcheson, Silver Hassell, Kinsley Jones, Jaidyn Davis, Aubree Herren, Ivy Kester, John Kelly Simmons, Violet Burt, Elah Cole, Analiyah McBee, Alexsa Quezada, Henlee Jackson, Maddalynne Noll and Karsyn Bain.
Each members of student council was presented with an award, and two were given to a single individual who received the additional Overall award. All of the final designations were determined by ballots submitted by the council. The winners were as follows:
• Overall Officer of the Year — Lorelei Livesay
• Judicial Branch Member of the Year — Shelby Hutcheson
• Executive Branch Member of the Year — Natalee Herren
• Senator of the Year — Maddalynne Noll
• Representative of the Year — Henlee Jackson
• Best Team Player — Yolanda Beals
• Funniest — Maks Young
• Kindest — Silver Hassell
• Most Athletic — Kinsley Jones
• Most Determined — Jaidyn Davis
• Most Efficient — Lorelei Livesay
• Most Enthusiastic — Aubree Herren
• Most Likely to be Famous — Izabella Gretzinger
• Most Likely to Succeed — Ivy Kester
• Most Likely to Work in Government — John Kelly Simmons
• Most Optimistic — Violet Burt
• Most Outgoing — Elah Cole
• Most Outspoken — Analiyah McBee
• Most Supportive — Alexsa Quezada
• Rookie of the Year — Danny Valencia
• Volunteer of the Year — Karsyn Bain
The first individual inducted into the Hall of Fame for 2025 was alumnus Ginger Collier who was announced by Lisa Mason on behalf of Paula Gillespie. She read a speech prepared by Gillespie, and the award was accepted by Collier’s mother, Lisa Collier, as she resides in Washington D.C. and was unable to attend.
“Ginger Collier was in my second grade class at Eastside; she was cute, tiny and quiet. She was also brilliant and, soon, I found out she was a perfectionist. Everything Ginger did had to be perfect,” Mason read from Gillespie’s speech. “A few months ago, I had the pleasure of seeing Ginger and her mom, Linda. It was wonderful to hug that beautiful child who has now turned into a beautiful woman. Ginger is now in Washington doing wonderfully well and is a very successful lawyer. Of course, everyone knew she would do something awesome and I think she’s probably still as perfect as she was when she was a little girl.”
Although she could not physically be at the school for the award ceremony, Collier recorded a video to convey her sentiments upon being chosen for the Hall of Fame.
“I’ve been an economist and a lawyer but, along the way, I’ve felt the continued support and encouragement from everyone in D.C.,” Collier said. “I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to all my teachers and mentors at home who have been instrumental in influencing my journey and, in particular, bringing me where I am now, which is teaching other attorneys to do and possibly be better at their jobs. Hopefully, I’ve brought a small percentage of the knowledge, patience, integrity and sympathy to my job that you all brought to teaching me. I definitely still pass along words of wisdom that I received, especially ‘practice makes permanent, not necessarily perfect.’ ”
Collier continued, “Thank you for teaching me, not only just to get things done, but to start my day to get things done the right way. Thank you for this recognition and, most importantly, thank you for your support and looking forward to teaching many, many more students.”
Second in the roster was Monica L. Henry who is a former substitute teacher and aid at Eastside. She was introduced by Joyce Smith who worked with her for several years.
“Has there every been someone in your life that you feel like you unintentionally took for granted and you never told them how much you appreciate them? Monica is one of those people. I first met Monica the first year I was teaching here at Eastside. She was the mother of two of my top sixth grade students,” Smith said. “After knowing Monica for a year as a parent, I got to know her as a sub and, eventually, as an aid. How do I sum up in a few minutes what this special lady means to me? I was reaching a devotion about Samuel, talking how he didn’t have a lot of victorious victories. We don’t memorize verses about Samuel, yet he kept showing up. Trustworthy, consistent and steadfast. Those were the words this author chose to describe Samuel. The more I thought about it, I concluded that these are some of the words I would use to describe Monica.”
Smith went on, “I never hesitated to call Monica to sub for me. I knew she would be here, ready to treat my students like they were her own class. When I came back the next day, it was as if I’d never missed a day. They had been loved and well taken care of. I can’t stress enough how much that meant to me as a teacher. I trusted her with my students. I am thrilled to call her my friend and to be here to honor her tonight.”
Henry and Smith embraced briefly before she took to the podium to address the guests.
“I have such fond memories of my years at Eastside. As some of you probably know, my three children — Pete, Beth and Jason — all attended Eastside. Their time was marked with wonderful teachers who played an important role in shaping their early education — teachers who will always be remembered,” Henry said. “Over the years, I had the joy of wearing many hats at Eastside. I served as a substitute teacher, teacher assistant and the school secretary. Each of those roles brought me closer to the heart of this school, its students, staff and spirit. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this wonderful recognition.”
The final individual inducted into Eastside’s Hall of Fame was Toni Morton, who was a teacher at the school for several years. Though she did not have the tenure more inductees do, her impact was no less felt — earning her the honor of this year’s Honored Educator. Her induction speech was given by her daughter, Kayla Wilson.
“There are so many wonderful things that I could say about my mom. Eastside is my home school — this is where I grew up. I can remember being a little girl in my mom’s classroom, writing on her chalkboard and playing school. My mom’s classroom was perfection; she would spend countless hours in the summer getting it ready for her new students. We could cut out laminated posters and decor until our hands hurt. She wanted her students to get excited about learning. The environment of her classroom was warm, welcoming and definitely colorful,” Wilson said. “My mom taught first grade and she was the cutest first grade teacher you ever saw. She was what you would envision an elementary teacher to look like. Not only did she look the part, she was the best, most patient, kind, compassionate and understanding teacher. Her students felt a sense of belonging. They were her second family. If anyone could teach a child to read, it was my mother. She embraced a love for reading with her enthusiasm and her library collection of books, including her favorites. I have always loved to hear her read a book. She was engaging, animated and full of wonder and excitement.”
Wilson recalled her mother’s creative energy, which was funneled into helping her students create a 12-month painted calendar for their parents in time for Christmas, a large feat to fit into a three-month time span.
“Can you imagine having 20 plus six year olds creating a 12-month painted calendar by December? This was just her way of making moments special, a gift for parents and students to have forever,” Wilson continued. “My early desire to become a teacher came not only from the love of learning, but from my amazing role model who shaped my life, my mom. She inspired me to be a teacher, but not just any teacher — the kind of teacher that you want your child to have in school. You have many teachers in school growing up, and if you’re lucky enough, you get one you will never forget: The one who made an impact in your life forever. My mom was that teacher. I’ve had many people come up to me and tell me this over the years. Tonight, I’m honored to present the Educator Hall of Fame Award to the best teacher, my rock, my friend, my mom, Toni Morton.”
“I am very, very honored to receive this award tonight. I was really floored by it and I didn’t ever expect to receive this award because I didn’t have the number of years here that a lot of the teachers had because my career was cut short by my illness, but I love this school. It has such a special place in my heart. My years here were some of my favorite years of my life. The faculty, staff and students will always hold a special place in my heart. When I walk through those doors, it’s like walking into home,” Morton said as she accepted her award. “And my little students that I had were six years old and they’ll always be six-year-olds no matter when I see them. Now they’re six-foot-four and have beards, but they’re still six-year-olds that are missing teeth. That’s just how I see them, in their little innocent ways, and I still love them the same way that I did when I had them. They’re just special to you. Eastside is a family, and this was a great place to be and work.”
The newest members of Eastside’s Hall of Fame join their predecessors as being part of the committee to choose future inductees and will have a place on the wall.
