LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Jeff Irvin was nominated by his former colleague, Phyllis Mosley.

"Jeff Irvin is the definition of a LifeChanger, in my opinion," said Mosley. "He took a chance on this first-year teacher many years ago and led me along many years of my own learning. He always encouraged us to continue our education and never stop learning in our fields of expertise. My field was Reading at the time. The opportunity came for someone in our district to become trained to be a Certified Academic Language Therapist (CALT) and to start the dyslexia program at Sam Rayburn. I mentioned my interest in this, and he did not hesitate to begin the process. We applied to start the training at Texas Scottish Rite, and that summer, I was staying in Dallas for an intensive Dyslexia therapy training. He was my principal at that time and later became my superintendent. He has no idea how that small belief that someone could do something would impact so many lives after that. I taught about 100 students with that training and helped those students overcome and accommodate dyslexia. Fast forward 15 years, and I am now the assistant director for a special education cooperative, and the worlds of dyslexia and special education have collided. Had he not taken a chance on this first-year teacher, then a dyslexia therapist, my road may look very different."

"Jeff Irvin also cared deeply about his employees as people. He always encouraged us to put our families first and to prepare for the future," said Mosley. "In my second year of teaching, he had Jared Bryson speak to us about putting money away for retirement and planning for the future. I remember thinking I would never make it to retirement age, and I could barely spare $20. But I did because I respected him so much. Now that I am less than five years from retirement eligible, I am eternally thankful that I did. Jeff Irvin is a humble man who has no idea how much he impacts people he encounters."