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School Culture: The Bedrock of Mental Well-being

School Culture: The Bedrock of Mental Well-being

by Taniece Thompson-Smith, 2024 Texas Teacher of the Year “Now this is what I want to do with my life!” was the sentence that reverberated throughout the classroom, as students loquaciously exchanged ideas about sedimentary rocks and fossil fuels. Like a...
A Pandemic that Shifted the World of Education

A Pandemic that Shifted the World of Education

by Michelle Sandoval Villegas, 2020 Texas Secondary Teacher of the Year Today is September 8, 2020, and I am sitting at my home desk with my fingers on the keyboard trying to find the right words to describe how I am feeling, how my students are feeling, their...
We’re All in This Together

We’re All in This Together

by Karen Sams, 2020 Texas Teacher of the Year It seems like just yesterday and also years ago since I was last in my classroom with my students. I still remember the beginning of that week in March. With one week remaining until our spring break began, we jokingly...
A Pandemic that Shifted the World of Education

Creating School Culture in the Face of Adversity

by Michelle Sandoval Villegas, 2020 Texas Secondary Teacher of the Year Chaos. Mass shootings. Pandemic. Fear. Anxiety. In the past school year, teachers have faced the hardest academic year in our city, and we share the same feelings with many educators all across...
We’re All in This Together

Taking Back the Narrative of Public Education

by Karen Sams, 2020 Texas Teacher of the Year Every morning, when I walk into my classroom, I look up and read a quote that I have posted by Dr. Rita F. Pearson. “Every child deserves a champion — an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of...