Amaris Vega
Cielo Vista Elementary 

Amaris’ devotion to her students is undeniable. During the pandemic, she took the time to meet her students after school to ensure their success. She experienced hardship as her immediate family members were victims of the Walmart shooting. She remained vigilant about the needs of her students throughout her leave. Her car was stolen and crashed a month ago and through it all she remains positive. Her devotion to students is evident by her big heart and beautiful smile that she greets them with every day. 

Helen M. Rivera
Magoffin Middle 

Helen’s story begins two years ago. Her husband was the sole provider for 10 years but when she started student teaching, her husband dropped down from his full-time job and worked four part time jobs to manage expenses. Now she’s the sole provider for a family of six. With family obligations including being the sole caregiver for her grandmother, she became overwhelmed during the pandemic almost ready to quit in the first few months. But her passion and love for teaching kept her in the game. The week before she returned for her second year, her car was flooded in a rainstorm and the family has been without a vehicle for 10 months. She relies on public transportation, Uber or rides from friends or relatives to get to and from work and to take care of my family needs. She comes in on weekend and intersession tutoring and is willing to help her students with anything but sometimes the lack of transportation hinders her ability to volunteer and demonstrate her potential as a teacher. 

Veronica Rodriguez
Zavala Elementary 

Veronica always puts her students first regardless of her health issues. She has battled breast cancer and survived. Now she is battling lung cancer along with the side effects of her medications. Her car was stolen, and she had to depend on fellow coworkers for rides to work. She was able to purchase a used car but now it has broken down. I have seen her work with her students for many years and know how much she truly cares for them. Even though the hardship of having cancer, losing her hair, and not feeling well she never came to school feeling sorry for herself. Once again, she is fighting cancer and has the financial burden of treatments on her own, and no one would ever know.