Cavazos Elementary School Principal Joyce Geary earns community recognition
Joyce Geary, principal of Cavazos Elementary School has been recognized as one of Mission’s finest residents. She, and several others were honored through the annual Citizens Awards at the Greater Mission Chamber of Commerce annual banquet. The Progress Times newspaper is continuing this tradition that has been a part of Mission for more than 50 years. The honorees are kept secret until they are announced at the banquet. Progress Times Publisher Jim Brunson and his wife, Mendi, presented the awards.
Geary was recognized as the First Lady of Mission. She is pictured (left), accepting her award from 2013 First Lady Beatriz Tijerina (right). Picture provided by the Progress Times.
The following is what the Progress Times wrote about Geary as a part of her honor as First Lady of Mission.
Geary wasn’t born in Mission, but she’s made her mark in the city since arriving in 1982 as a member of Volunteers for Education and Social Services to teach elementary students at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church–a job that didn’t even pay minimum wage at the time.
Her service mostly centers on the youths of the community.
While she taught at Our Lady of Guadalupe, Geary also coordinated the Friday Mass, planning and practicing the music and readings with the children and making the sacramental bread–a task she often shared with the children coming to her house to assist.
Geary went on to become a youth minister at St. Paul’s Catholic Church, the Teen Court coordinator at the McAllen Police Department, a sixth-grade teacher at K. White Jr. High School and an assistant principal at Brown Middle School in McAllen and Cavazos Elementary in Mission.
She’s been at Cavazos nine years and has been named “Who’s Who of American Educators.”
As a youth minister and youth choir direct at St. Paul’s, Geary has focused on ways to engage children while making it fun, hosting BYOB (Bring Your Own Banana) parties, retreats and lock-ins. For 20 years, she’s led teams of youths in the Mission Service Project and created well-organized, fun experiences for out-of-town guests who joined them.
Geary also has led two church choirs for 25 years, alternating two Sundays at Our Lady of Guadalupe and the other two at St. Paul’s church. Now in her second generation of leading the groups, former students are now bringing their children back to participate.
She leads the choir to nursing homes, hospitals and homes of shut-ins during the holidays to sing Christmas carols. They also sing to the families whose homes they renovate through the Mission Service Project.
Monsignor Da Vola at St. Paul’s calls her the Pied Piper.
Nominations for Geary poured in this year. That, alone, said a lot about the impact she’s had on the community.
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Joyce Geary, principal of Cavazos Elementary School has been recognized as one of Mission’s finest residents. She, and several others were honored through the annual Citizens Awards at the Greater Mission Chamber of Commerce annual banquet. The Progress Times newspaper is continuing this tradition that has been a part of Mission for more than 50 years. The honorees are kept secret until they are announced at the banquet. Progress Times Publisher Jim Brunson and his wife, Mendi, presented the awards.
Geary was recognized as the First Lady of Mission. She is pictured (left), accepting her award from 2013 First Lady Beatriz Tijerina (right). Picture provided by the Progress Times.
The following is what the Progress Times wrote about Geary as a part of her honor as First Lady of Mission.
Geary wasn’t born in Mission, but she’s made her mark in the city since arriving in 1982 as a member of Volunteers for Education and Social Services to teach elementary students at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church–a job that didn’t even pay minimum wage at the time.
Her service mostly centers on the youths of the community.
While she taught at Our Lady of Guadalupe, Geary also coordinated the Friday Mass, planning and practicing the music and readings with the children and making the sacramental bread–a task she often shared with the children coming to her house to assist.
Geary went on to become a youth minister at St. Paul’s Catholic Church, the Teen Court coordinator at the McAllen Police Department, a sixth-grade teacher at K. White Jr. High School and an assistant principal at Brown Middle School in McAllen and Cavazos Elementary in Mission.
She’s been at Cavazos nine years and has been named “Who’s Who of American Educators.”
As a youth minister and youth choir direct at St. Paul’s, Geary has focused on ways to engage children while making it fun, hosting BYOB (Bring Your Own Banana) parties, retreats and lock-ins. For 20 years, she’s led teams of youths in the Mission Service Project and created well-organized, fun experiences for out-of-town guests who joined them.
Geary also has led two church choirs for 25 years, alternating two Sundays at Our Lady of Guadalupe and the other two at St. Paul’s church. Now in her second generation of leading the groups, former students are now bringing their children back to participate.
She leads the choir to nursing homes, hospitals and homes of shut-ins during the holidays to sing Christmas carols. They also sing to the families whose homes they renovate through the Mission Service Project.
Monsignor Da Vola at St. Paul’s calls her the Pied Piper.
Nominations for Geary poured in this year. That, alone, said a lot about the impact she’s had on the community.
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