Thanks to Leslie’s guidance, care and encouragement, Mendez now has confidence in her plans for the future, but the teen’s transformation took time. When she discovered that she was pregnant last year, Mendez was so dejected that she stopped going to class at her traditional high school, describing herself as “antisocial.” 

“I was just depressed because I was alone in my pregnancy,” Mendez said. She could rely on her mother but not so much on the baby’s father who didn’t become more involved until after their now four-month-old son’s birth. Long interested in a healthcare career, others made her feel as if entering the field was no longer attainable. “People would judge me because I was pregnant,” she recalled. “My family would always say, ‘Oh, she’s not going to do it now because she got pregnant and this and that.”

When Mendez enrolled at Sotomayor — a school her 16-year-old sister, also a mom, attended first — she was withdrawn. Leslie remembers her as “very very, very reserved, very, very shy,” she said. “She looked like a very sad girl, like she had a lot on her mind.”

Having taught at Sotomayor for roughly nine years, Leslie is accustomed to encountering pregnant teens who behave similarly. They feel judged, ashamed and alienated, leading many of them to drop out of their traditional school just like Mendez did.

“We have a lot of teens that are dropouts because they got pregnant,” Leslie explained. “And so we try to find those girls to attend Sotomayor because the last thing we want to see is for them to not get their education.”

While 90 percent of young women who avoid motherhood in adolescence receive a high school diploma by age 22, only about half of teen moms do, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These teens are also more likely to face health problems, incarceration and socioeconomic disadvantages than their peers, but Leslie is determined to help Sotomayor students avoid these outcomes. Formerly in the banking industry, she started her education career 12 years ago as an after-school coordinator for the La Villa Independent School District in La Villa, Texas. Before heading to Sotomayor, she taught teens involved in gangs and drugs.

“It was a very rough environment,” she said.

But the experience taught her the importance of teaching to the whole child. Before she tries to teach her students, Leslie makes an effort to find out who they are and what they have experienced. Often, they have survived trauma — homelessness, domestic violence, physical, emotional or sexual abuse.

“They’re coming from this background that your normal typical kid might not come from,” she said. “They’re coming with all these challenges.”

Yet, the public judges pregnant and parenting teens without understanding their circumstances, Leslie said, adding that Mendez has endured domestic violence, poverty, an alcoholic father and an incarcerated mother. Leslie makes a point to help students who have grown up in chaos and dysfunction rebuild their self-esteem so they can break the cycle. But it is no easy feat.

“I’m getting these children with low confidence, plus they have a pregnancy to deal with,” she said. “So, how do you prepare them for that, too? How do you tell them, ‘You’re going to be a mom now, and it’s no longer going to be about you now –  when they’re broken to start with?”

One successful strategy has been to teach these students a human relations course designed to develop their self-esteem and help them talk through real life situations. In the course, Leslie discusses the adversity she’s overcome. She was born in poverty in Belize to a mother with an eighth-grade education who repeatedly experienced domestic violence. But even in this context, Leslie had dreams: She used to pretend to be a teacher.

“My grandmother was a teacher, and she became a principal,” Leslie said. “I’m the only educator besides her in the family. But growing up, I never said, ‘Oh, I want to become like my grandma, right? But teaching is something I love to do and it’s my passion.”

Since Leslie opens up about her own life in the human relations course, her students feel comfortable doing the same.

“That is how my students are able to connect with me because I’m not afraid to tell them what I’ve been through and what my background is,” Leslie said.

This includes Mendez, who said that Leslie’s lessons on self-esteem are among her favorites. Leslie’s transparency about her own life made Mendez feel as if the teacher would not judge her. Since she found Leslie relatable, Mendez did not hesitate to confide in her and take her advice, whether it concerned homework or trouble at home.  

“She was just awesome,” Mendez said. “I just love her and I’m so thankful for her, that she was my teacher.”

Mendez said that Leslie not only made sure to go into detail to ensure that students understood the lessons but made classes engaging too. They prepped for quizzes with games that Mendez found both entertaining and motivating. While learning in Leslie’s class was fun, Mendez notes that the teacher was also firm. She told students that they had to show up to class on time because she would not repeat any information if they were tardy, so Mendez made sure to arrive to class promptly. 

When Mendez felt like giving up on her future early on, Leslie pushed the teen to persevere and reframe the negative comments people made about her pregnancy. Now, Mendez strives to succeed.

Both Rakay and Leslie have a common mission: They want to teach pregnant and parenting teens that they can accomplish what they set out to achieve. “And babies are not a problem but more of a celebration and a motivation for them to do even better,” Rakay explained.

Just last year, Leslie received recognition for her dedication to teaching. She was a finalist for the H-E-B Excellence in Education Rising Star Award. While she appreciates recognition for her hard work, Leslie said that her real reward is “when I see my students succeed and when I see them transform. It is so satisfying, and it truly makes me happy.”

With Leslie as a teacher and mentor, Mendez now feels empowered to make an impact on society as a healthcare professional.

“I would love to help the community, to help save lives,” she said. “I would love to do that. I want to be able to have a career, so I can take care of me and my baby.”