The Dunkirk City School District granted tenure, effective Aug. 31, to seven teachers at the June meeting of the city Board of Education.

The teachers are Connor Aitcheson, a world languages instructor; Jessica Davis, reading; Courtney Donovan, elementary education; Gina Hall, elementary education; Courtney Houghtaling, reading; Kyle Jarrell, social studies; and Alexander Phillips, English as a New Language.

Five of the seven were present for the honor, with Aitcheson and Jarrell not there because they were doing student-related activities. Those two will be honored at the July Board of Education meeting.

School administrators said nice things about each of the five who attended.

Donovan was called “a teacher that tries to build experiences into her classroom that help our kids to be good people.”

Davis “works really hard to promote literacy with our students. She takes that very seriously.”

Houghtaling “has a big heart for her students, and it shows in her classroom. She loves to bring her outside experiences in. Kids love her.”

Hall is “always the first person to lend a hand and say she’ll help do something for a kid. She is leading our school in goal setting, she has her kids put their mind in a direction and she’s helping them get there.”

Phillips’ “students absolutely adore him…he goes the extra mile to make sure a very important population feels very heard and loved.”