Monday, April 29, 2024
Priscilla Lumbreras
A Granbury ISD teacher is one of two teachers selected to represent the north Texas region in this year’s statewide Teacher of the Year competition.
Priscilla Lumbreras, a biology teacher at Granbury High School, was chosen for the honor along with Nora Moreno, a bilingual/dual-language kindergarten teacher at Thomas Edison Elementary School in Gainesville.
The pair was named the 2022 Region 11 Teachers of the Year during a special awards ceremony held Tuesday, Aug. 2 and sponsored by the Education Service Center Region 11.
The competition recognizes teachers of the year from school districts in the north Texas region.
The Texas Association of School Administrators sponsors the Teacher of the Year program, which allows districts to submit one elementary candidate and one secondary candidate to compete at the regional and state levels.
This year’s Region 11 competition included 75 teachers representing 41 school districts.
District winners who competed for the regional award were required to submit resumes describing their educational history and professional development. They were also asked to write their own professional biography and five lengthy essays.
Essay topics were a defining lesson they have developed; a special project or initiative they have participated in that creates school culture; an example of how they connect students to the community; how they have grown as a leader and learner as a result of being an advocate; and their message/platform should they be selected as the national teacher of the year.
The regional selection panel included teachers, assistant principals, and central office staff from school districts within the region. They reviewed and scored all of the essays and selected Lumbreras and Moreno as the regional winners.
The women will now compete at the state level for the Texas Teacher of the Year award. TASA’s selection committee will meet to review the applications of the regional winners on Aug. 15-16 and then name three elementary teachers and three secondary teachers as state semifinalists.
Those six semifinalists will then participate in an interview with the selection committee on Oct. 20.
State winners will be announced in late October.
GISD WINNER
Lumbreras has taught biology at GHS for five years. Prior to that, she spent seven years as an eighth-grade science teacher in the La Joya ISD.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a master’s degree in science education from Western Michigan University.
Lumbreras is currently serving a one-year appointment as a STEM ambassador for the Department of Defense, an honor that she shares with 15 other educators across the country.
A recurring theme in Lumbreras’ application was promoting education and supporting teachers.
“She is very adamant about calling for teachers to advocate for our profession,” said Chandra Turrentine, a judge from the Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD.
Dr. Jeff Russell, a judge from the Denton ISD, stated, “She focused on the importance of teachers not standing alone, but instead supporting and advocating for each other. They need to have a voice and use to use it.”
