Odessa Chamber of Commerce and Cheveron 2025 New Teacher Welcome

Odessa, Texas/July 31, 2025-The Odessa Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Chevron held the 2025 Ector County ISD New Teacher Welcome Fair at the MCM Grande Hotel Fund Dome. New teachers have the opportunity to connect with the community and learn about local resources from local businesses.
(Renee Earls, President/CEO, Odessa Chamber of Commerce/Odessa, Texas)
Over 250 new teachers from across the state of Texas and from the U.S. as well as international teachers will be serving the students of the ECISD school district.
(Matt Spivy, Chief Human Capital Officer-Ector County ISD/Odessa, Texas)
Several medical institutions and other health representatives as well as nbanks and credit unions participated in the event providing information to new teachers.
(Susan Thornton, Foundation Director-Medical Center Health System/Odessa, Texas)
(Jason Berridge, President/CEO-Complex Community Federal Credit Union)
Ector County ISD is expecting around 34 thousand students this year.
For DRB Media Communications Digital News, Danny Barrera.

Education Foundation of Odessa Partners with Chevron and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library

Odessa, Texas/December 15, 2023-The Education Foundation of Odessa announced its partnership with Chevron and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to bring the gift of reading to children in Ector County. 

(Celeste Potter, Executive Director of Development-Ector County ISD/Education Foundation of Odessa-Odessa, Texas) 

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library will provide one engaging, high-quality book each month to Ector County children from age 0 to 5 years of age at no cost to families. 

(Valerie Acosta, Public and Government Affairs Advisor-Chevron/Midland, Texas) 

(Dr. Lilia Nanez, Associate Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction-Ector County ISD/Odessa, Texas) 

Ector County ISD is responding to research that shows that reading at an early age supports early literacy, emotional bonding and opens a child to a world of possibilities. 

(Scott Muri, Superintendent of Schools-Ector County ISD/Odessa, Texas) 

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is now available to all age-eligible children in Ector County. To sign up, visit imaginationlibrary.com/check.availability/ 

For DRB Media Communications Digital News, Danny Barrera 

Odessa Chamber of Commerce and Chevron Welcomes New Teachers for the 2023-2024 ECISD School Year

Odessa, Texas/August 1, 2023-The Odessa Chamber of Commerce along with Chevron and other sponsors held the 8th annual 2023-2024 New Teacher Welcome for Ector County ISD. Over 60 businesses, banks, various church representatives and other organizations helped welcome the new educators. 

(Grayson Hankins, President of the Board of Directors-Odessa Chamber of Commerce/Odessa, Texas) 

Erica Belanger is a former banker, and now a first-year 4th grade teacher at Burnett Elementary. She’s excited about being able to bring her real-life experiences as a banker to the classroom to help her students succeed. 

(Erica Belanger, New Teacher-4th Grade/Burnett Elementary-ECISD/Odessa, Texas) 

At the beginning of the week, Ector County ISD held the New Teacher University. This is ECISD’s orientation for new teachers that are new to the school district.  

(Scott Muri, Superintendent of Schools-Ector County ISD/Odessa, Texas) 

Approximately 200 international teachers from 26 countries were welcomed at the Odessa Chamber of Commerce-Chevron reception at the MCM ELEGANTE HOTEL & FUNDOME. 

For DRB Media Communications Digital News, Danny Barrera