CHAMBER ANNOUNCES SCHOOL BELL AWARD WINNERS
Written by Post Public Information Representative, May 6, 2010, 0 Comments
Courtesy Edward Millan,
The Education Committee of the Laredo Chamber of Commerce annually takes time to honor educators. A special recognition – the School Bell Award – is presented to those educators that are selected by their peers for their performance in and out of the classroom.
This year the Laredo Chamber will honor eleven outstanding teachers representative of grades K through university level at a ceremony to be held at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 6, 2010, at the Fernando Salinas Lecture Room (#111) of TAMIU’s Western Hemispheric Trade Center . Winners for each of eleven categories were selected from a pool of applicants by members of the Chamber’s Education Committee. “Believe me, making the selection is not an easy task,” states committee chairman Mike Pescador. “Particularly, when you have so many deserving of the honor,” he adds.
The School Bell Award winners for 2010 are:
UISD
Elem.: Eddika Ramos Castañeda Centeno Elementary School
Middle: Priscilla Keene Trautmann Middle School
High School: Rosa Clara Salazar United South High School
LISD
Elem.: Juan Adan Garza Macdonell Elementary School
Middle: Laura Maldonado L.J. Christen Middle School
High School: Armando Hinojosa Vidal M. Trevino Magnet School
PRIVATE SCHOOLS
Elem.: Maricela Benavides Mary Help of Christian Elem. School
Secondary: Gerardo Salazar United Day Middle School
CHARTER SCHOOLS
Secondary Leticia Lambert Premier High School
LCC
Dr. Jim Goetze Instructor of Biology
TAMIU
Dr. Juan Homero Hinojosa Professor of Physics
Recipients of the School Bell Award will also receive a $250 check from Family Chevrolet. The local auto dealership has embraced the event wholeheartedly and is committed to making sure that selected educators realize that the business community is firmly behind them. Hosting the School Bell Award ceremony/reception along with the Laredo Chamber and Family Chevrolet, will be the College of Education of Texas A&M International University . States Chamber President Miguel Conchas, “It is easy to criticize when we see shortcomings in the system. We should be just as quick in complementing success. The School Bell is just a small way of saying ‘Thank you!’ to those teachers that go above and beyond on a daily basis.”
The School Bell Award is the brainchild of two former Laredo Chamber of Commerce Education Committee members — Candy Hein, a former teacher, and Elia Gonzalez, a telecommunications executive. Hein and Gonzalez, in 1992, decided that the Laredo Chamber should find a way to recognize local exemplary teachers. With the full support of the Chamber’s Executive Committee, the two organized a plan to raise funds and to institute the first awards program. The School Bell recognition was born. Originally, the School Bell Awards were presented at regular monthly Chamber board meetings. In 2001, the Chamber’s Education Committee took the initiative to create the School Bell’s own event. In 2005, Paul Young, a local auto dealer, decided to grow the event further and instituted a program for monetary reward for each of the honorees.
Aside from the annual recognition event for teachers, the Laredo Chamber is fully committed to developing excellence in the educational system. As an example, the Board of the Chamber in 2007 actively endorsed the formation of the K-16 council initiative by local educational groups. Chamber volunteers throughout the year also visit middle school classrooms to encourage students to enroll in advanced course of study and several Chamber committees award scholarships to local high school seniors annually. Recently, Chamber CEO Miguel Conchas was invited by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to form part of the Business LEADs Institute, a training program focusing on education and workforce training.
Note that seating at the School Bell reception is limited to honorees and their guests. For information on the School Bell Awards event call the Laredo Chamber at (956) 722-9895.
