For nearly a decade, El Dorado Chevrolet and Mazda in McKinney have donated the use of a car to the McKinney ISD Elementary and Secondary Teacher of the Year: (Front row, left-right) MISD Partners in Education Specialist Nancy Cowlishaw, MISD 2022 Secondary Teacher of the Year Melvin Crosby, MISD 2022 Elementary Teacher of the Year Erica Johnson, MISD Superintendent Dr. Rick McDaniel, (back row) El Dorado General Sales Manager Jas Gill, El Dorado Sales Manager Rusty McDonald, El Dorado Sales Consultant Gary Wilkerson

McKinney, Texas – Melvin Crosby sat in the front seat of a black Chevy Equinox parked just outside the showroom at El Dorado Chevrolet and Mazda in McKinney, and soaked up the ice cold air-conditioning as it washed over him, offering a respite from the encroaching heat of spring in Texas.

For the McKinney North High School AVID teacher and track coach, who in April was named McKinney ISD’s 2022 Secondary Teacher of the Year, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect; earlier that morning, Crosby had found that the a/c in his truck was not blowing quite as cold as usual—always an unwelcome discovery when summer is just around the corner.

A few feet away, MISD 2022 Elementary Teacher of the Year Erica Johnson, who teaches fourth grade at Press Elementary, enjoyed her own refuge from the heat in the form of a Mazda CX-5 SUV. El Dorado’s Gary Wilkerson was in the passenger seat pointing out various features and controls as the sunroof opened and closed and tilted in response to Wilkerson’s button pushing.

MISD Secondary Teacher of the Year Melvin Crosby checks out the Chevy Equinox that will be his to drive free of charge courtesy of El Dorado Chevrolet and Mazda in McKinney.

Later, the two MISD teachers would drive away in their new vehicles, free of charge for one year, thanks to the generosity of El Dorado Chevrolet and Mazda. Crosby and Johnson are the latest benefactors of a tradition that El Dorado began nine years ago when they first offered the MISD Elementary and Secondary Teacher of the Year their choice of the lot to drive for a year—for free. They couldn’t take a Corvette or a Camaro SS, but just about everything else was fair game.

That El Dorado put these two teachers in vehicles again this year is testimony to their heartfelt support of the district. El Dorado has not been immune to the supply chain issues that have caused inventory challenges for dealerships over the past couple of years, yet they remained steadfast in their commitment to honor MISD’s Teachers of the Year in their traditional way.

“The supply with new cars, the cars coming in, is kind of tough right now,” said El Dorado General Sales Manager Jas Gill. “But, for the Teacher of the Year, giving them a car to drive has been a tradition for so many years, and we made the decision that we want to continue to do that tradition and take care of our teachers.”

MISD Elementary Teacher of the Year Erica Johnson sits in the Mazda CX-5 donated to her by El Dorado Chevrolet and Mazda in McKinney to drive for free over the next year.

El Dorado has a lengthy history of supporting MISD in big and small ways. In 2011, they donated a new one-ton pickup truck to the district’s FFA program, they have supported the Teacher of the Month program on local radio station KLAK for years and they’ve donated vehicles—and as a result of the current supply chain issues this year, money—for Project Graduation grand prize drawings.

The support and kindness were not lost on Crosby. “I can’t express enough appreciation for El Dorado Chevrolet and McKinney ISD for this gesture and to go to this extent,” said Crosby. “I feel extremely blessed and privileged to work for such a district that honors, recognizes and takes care of their teachers. And, we feel it every single day with the kids that we see…but it doesn’t hurt to have a cherry on top,” he added with a laugh. “So, I’m extremely grateful.”

“I am beyond grateful for El Dorado’s support of teachers,” said Johnson. “They have been wonderful to work with and truly made me feel like they appreciate all of the hard work that teachers do.”

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