Congratulations to

National Teaching Award Nominee
Cassidy Herrera
C.E. King High School, Houston, Texas
Student Nomination Story
Being a first generation student from a hispanic household, spanish has always been my first language. I struggled with speaking English most of my life so I was never fond of the language. This was also a reason why as a child in elementary and middle school I never really enjoyed school and didn't look forward to it. It always made me feel like I didn’t fully understand either English or Spanish. I always struggled with writing essays and understanding grammar errors and corrections. Ms. Herrera will always be someone who I will be fond of as a teacher and a friend. She helped me learn so much while making it fun and entertaining for each student. The PBLs that we would do in her class were so engaging and actually made me want to learn. She was so encouraging and creative, she would also talk with us about her life at home. I remember how she would have a corner in her classroom with lowlights and beanbags so we could relax and read after lessons were over. She would also let us nap after we were done with class and we were excited to help her out whenever she needed it. One other thing I remember from her was that for valentine our class had the idea to throw a small party and she wasn't against it, she helped us out and brought us food, it was really memorable. She also did several other gestures that made our class a more fun place to be. Her motivation, engagement, and kindness are a big part of her personality and just made the ambience of the classroom a more welcoming place. This made it easier for me to focus, not be stressed, and work in a more peaceful environment. School still seems stressful to me tough but I have learned to appreciate things more because of her. She was actually someone who made me think about my future and what I wanted to do. My college plans have changed a little bit by giving me options if something doesn't work out.
Raquel Henriquez
Hello my name is Josue Haro and I am currently in the 10th grade. In my free time, I usually like to play video games with friends and hangout with them. My attitude towards school is trying to complete school and get into college so I will be able to set my career in motion. My biggest concerns consisted of my ability to write impactful and acceptable essays. The reason that Ms. Herrera is special to me is because she was extremely helpful in nurturing my skills for writing. She was able to guide me and thoroughly explain the procedure and skills needed to write a good and meaningful essay. With the time that I spent with Ms. Hererra, she was able to nurture and thoroughly explain skills I use even today. Ms. Herrera was an excellent teacher because she was able to thoroughly help me understand skills and for writing essays and help me rationalize ideas and concepts I still use today. I am grateful for Ms. Herrera is able to teach me valuable skills that I have been able to use and refine to help me have an edge when it comes to writing. My outlook on school still stays the same of me using school as a stepping stone for boating my career and a good start off. My dreams are still to become a computer hardware engineer and engineer an advanced gaming laptop.
Josue Haro
My name is Angel Aldacoand I’m in 10th grade in the STEAM program. My attitude towards school before I met my teacher was kind of struggling in reading and I needed help in all the techniques and skills. My biggest challenge and concern was if I was going to pass 9th grade with a little bit of knowledge. Ms. Herrera helped me tremendously with reading and writing, which I’m doing kind of well. My teacher was special because she would put relaxing meditation videos and it helped me a lot in trying to concentrate. My teacher taught me different ways to challenge myself and refine the skills that I kind of learned over the years. The thing that helped me and stuck with me was listening to music when I couldn’t concentrate on my reading. I’m grateful to my teacher because she taught me how to tackle different problems from different perspectives and ways that helped me in my reading and writing. I feel that school is going by a breeze, and the reason is that reading is much different compared to the past years. My dreams for the future have changed from trying to be good at reading, to excel in different types of reading from persuasive, expository, and poems.
Angel Aldaco
My name is Angel Aldacoand I’m in 10th grade in the STEAM program. My attitude towards school before I met my teacher was kind of struggling in reading and I needed help in all the techniques and skills. My biggest challenge and concern was if I was going to pass 9th grade with a little bit of knowledge. Ms. Herrera helped me tremendously with reading and writing, which I’m doing kind of well. My teacher was special because she would put relaxing meditation videos and it helped me a lot in trying to concentrate. My teacher taught me different ways to challenge myself and refine the skills that I kind of learned over the years. The thing that helped me and stuck with me was listening to music when I couldn’t concentrate on my reading. I’m grateful to my teacher because she taught me how to tackle different problems from different perspectives and ways that helped me in my reading and writing. I feel that school is going by a breeze, and the reason is that reading is much different compared to the past years. My dreams for the future have changed from trying to be good at reading, to excel in different types of reading from persuasive, expository, and poems.
Angel Aldaco
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