By LEANDER ISD

A Four Points Middle School parent volunteer is considered a contender for sainthood! For her giving and selfless heart, we hereby declare Kelli Merchant Leander ISD Volunteer of the Week.

A new principal at FPMS has led to tremendous change. Through Kelli’s leadership, she has centered the campus’ Parent Teacher Association (PTA) around bringing a partnership between the school and community. She works tirelessly to make sure all Falcons have a voice while also serving to promote the staff and their efforts to support children.

Most notably, Kelli agreed to take a very challenging role in the middle of the year as an 8th-grade math teacher. She did not need the position; however, she noticed FPMS was having difficulty filling the role in the middle of the year combined with the commute. She had a sense of duty to the community, agreeing to help and ultimately directly serving 100+ kids who had no consistent sub for a month. That sense of duty couldn’t be more evident in Kelli’s role as a long-term sub during COVID-19. And yet, she has handled teaching with such grace! She’s even been instrumental in planning an 8th-grade graduation parade route to commemorate their middle school achievements.

“This lady is amazing!” Four Points Middle School principal Steve Crawford said. “Sacrificing your personal life for the greater good of the community, people like that just don’t come around all that often. She did it with a volunteer’s heart while maintaining her other roles. She is our Mother Teresa.”

Those “other roles” include serving with Vandegrift High School’s Project Grad and River Place Elementary PTA.

Tipping our hat to a woman serving as a parent, volunteer, and now, teacher, our district is honored by her willingness to serve–Leander ISD Volunteer of the Week Kelli Merchant!