Morton ISD would like to congratulate Mrs. Melanie Ridley and Mrs. Becky Cottrell on their retirement this year!
Mrs. Cottrell graduated from Angelo State University and received her master's from Midwestern State University. She began her teaching career in Tulia, where she was a 4th-grade teacher. From Tulie, Becky went to Breckenridge, and she was the 7th-grade math teacher.
After Breckenridge, Mrs. Cottrell went to Snyder. She was the 5th-grade teacher. Hico was her next stop, where Mrs. Cottrell was a 3rd-grade teacher. From Hico, she went to Electra and taught 3rd and 4th-grade. While at Electra, Mrs. Cottrell also served as the K-12 Counselor. Becky then went to Jacksboro, where she taught 7th-grade math and was the HS Counselor.
Mrs. Cottrell wrapped up her career back in Snyder as the JH Counselor before retiring for the first time! She came out of retirement to serve as our Elementary Counselor at Morton. At the end of this school year, she is retiring again!
Mrs. Ridley graduated Magna Cum Laude from Wayland Baptist University in 1983. She began her teaching career in Sweetwater ISD in August of 1983, where she remained until June 1987. While at Sweetwater, Melanie was a classroom teacher for Health, First Aid, Science, and English. She also served as the JH Volleyball, Basketball, Track, and Tennis coach and the JV Volleyball, Basketball, Cross Country, and Track coach.
After leaving Sweetwater, Mrs. Ridley returned to Olton ISD's high school alma mater. At Olton, Mrs. Ridley taught JH Health along with HS Speech Communication. At Olton, she was the JV Basketball and Track Coach and the Varsity Cross Country coach. From Olton, Mrs. Ridley moved to Plainview Christian Academy, where she was the HS English, Technology, Bible, and PE teacher and the Varsity Volleyball and Track coach.
Mrs. Ridley returned to Olton ISD in 2008, where she stayed until 2014. At Olton, she was the JH Tech Apps/Keyboarding teacher and K-5 and JH PE teacher during this stent. Melanie was the school Webmaster, District Technology Trainer, and the Varsity Track coach. From Olton, Mrs. Ridley spent one year at Idalou ISD. She was the HS English and Practical Writing and was the JH and Varsity Tennis coach.
Mrs. Ridley then joined the staff at Morton ISD in 2016. Since being here, she has served as the teacher for JH Tech Apps, JH Career Development, JH Reading Intervention, HS BIM 1, HS Professional Communications, HS Web Communication, and HS ComTechEd. She has been a District Technology Trainer, directed elementary technology lessons in Keyboarding and coding, and has been the District IT Assistant. Mrs. Ridley was also voted Teacher of the Year for the 2019-2020 school year!
Morton ISD is grateful for Mrs. Ridley's and Mrs. Cottrell's years of service and wishes them the best of luck in their future endeavors!