Wolcott, Heredia Named Teachers of Year

by Ronnie Zamora/LFCISD

Cristal Wolcott and Misty Heredia were named Elementary and Secondary Teachers of the Year, respectively, at the Employee Awards Banquet Thursday at the Brownsville Events Center.

Wolcott is a first-grade teacher at Palmer-Laakso Elementary School, and Heredia is a physics teacher at Los Fresnos High School. Both are now nominated to participate in the Region One Education Service Center Teacher of the Year program.

A video of each of the 15 campus Teachers of the Year was shown at the banquet. The other 13 campus Teachers of the Year included:

• Las Yescas Elementary: Natalie Gonzalez
• Laureles Elementary: Fatima Garza
• Lopez-Riggins Elementary: Claudia Larraga
• Los Fresnos Elementary: Yadira Lopez
• Olmito Elementary: Joel Salinas
• Rancho Verde Elementary: Jeremy Boles
• Dora Romero Elementary: Alicia Aleman
• Villareal Elementary: Betty Guerrero
• Liberty Memorial Middle School: Gabriela Trejo
• Los Cuates Middle School: John Danielson
• Resaca Middle School: Tracy Buchanan
• AMI/CCTA/DAEP: Hubert Haylock
• Los Fresnos United: Flor Vasquez
• Los Fresnos High School: Misty Heredia

Also recognized were 19 retirees, Paraprofessional and Manual Trade Employees of the Year, and service awards for employees who have reached 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 years of service.

The Los Fresnos High School top 10 academic students and three other students presented Bell Awards to the educator or other district employee who has made an impact on their academic success.

The students and the employees they chose were:

• Mariella Gonzalez: Belsa Altamirano, Assistant Principal, Las Yescas Elementary
• Alfredo Jalife: Lupita Clements, Special Education teacher, Los Fresnos High School
• Jorge Moya: Omar Gonzales, teacher, LFHS
• Alyssa Perales: Carol Perales, clerk, Liberty Memorial Middle School (mom)
• Christopher Rivera: Arnold Garcia, teacher, LFHS
• Robert Waters: Eric Bernal, FFA teacher, LFHS
• Emma Stambaugh: Michelle Stambaugh, Counselor, LFHS (mom)
• Jose Carlos: Edith Garza
• Allison Spier: Veronica Gaytan
• Kaitlyn Mata: David Rivera, Ph.D.
• Juan Pablo Alvarado: Misty Heredia, Physics teacher, LFHS
• Enrique Valencia: Gladys Rangel (mom)
• Isis D. Delgado: Antonio Padilla, principal, Los Cuates Middle School

The LFHS Women’s Choir ended the evening with a rendition of the Alma Mater as more than 400 people in attendance stood and sang to the lyrics on the screen.