Recipients of Awards Presented at Leader U 

Local Units with 501-1,000 Members

Amancio Garza
Edinburg ATPE
Amancio Garza, the campus representative at Edinburg ISD’s Lyndon B. Johnson Elementary, is one of ATPE’s top recruiters year after year. (This year alone, he recruited 193 new members!) The secret to Garza’s success? Simply asking educators if they are familiar with ATPE.

Local Units with 1,001-plus Members

Terry Thompson
Humble ATPE
The campus representative at Humble ISD’s River Pines Elementary, Terry Thompson says that sharing information is at the heart of being a campus representative. By posting ATPE fliers and sharing Legislative Alert Network messages and ATPE e-mails, Thompson reminds his colleagues that he’s available to answer questions about ATPE

University Local Units

Lone Star College-Tomball ATPE
Region 4
Chartered in 2005
43 members
2007-08 officers: president Jeff Gregory, Secretary Ashley McDonald, Treasurer Jaimie Monti, and sponsors Mary Ann Jackson, Rajone Lyman, Barbara Miller and Karen Steans

Local Units with 1-500 Members

Ennis ATPE
Region 10
Chartered in 1980
458 members
2007-08 officers: President Rhonda Ferrer, Vice President Patsy Jones, 2nd Vice President Marilyn Glasscock, Secretary Mary Dowell, Treasurer Nanette Moyers and Membership Chair/Past President Merry Creager

Local Units with 501-1,000 Members

San Antonio ATPE
Region 20
Chartered in 1982
816 members
2007-08 officers: President Tina Briones, Vice President Linda Rankin, Secretary Margaret Phillips, Treasurer Diana Canavan and Membership Chair Angela Sanchez

Local Units with 1,001-plus Members

Cypress-Fairbanks ATPE
Region 4
Chartered in 1981
2,241 members
2007-08 officers: President Ginger Picone, Vice President Jay Guerrero, Secretary Eli Rodriguez, Treasurer Martha Pierson, Membership Chair Suzanne Bathe and Past President Becky Keels

Kim Kriegel - Waxahachie ATPE
Kim Kriegel is one of ATPE-PAC’s most avid supporters. She once promised to wear a coonskin cap to the ATPE Awards Banquet if Region 10 ATPE raised enough funds for ATPE-PAC to win the Davy Crockett Fundraising Challenge—and she made good on that promise, despite many funny looks. She also isn’t afraid to hit the pavement for public education; she’s knocked on many doors to support pro-public education candidates for the Texas Legislature and State Board of Education. Kriegel’s latest project is coordinating Region 10 ATPE’s efforts to publish a cookbook that raises awareness of ATPE-PAC and money for the fund. Cookbook purchases will count as ATPE-PAC donations for the purchasing individuals, their local units and their regions

 Local Units with
1-500 Members

 Local Units with
501-1,000 Members

 Local Units with
  1,000-plus Members 

2007-08 Grant for Teaching Excellence Award Recipients

This grant was created in memory of Christa McAuliffe and acknowledges outstanding and creative ATPE members who develop programs or proposals intended to improve the quality of education for their students. Each recipient received $1,000 at the convention’s Awards Banquet.
 

Elzene Machac
Special education and at-risk reading and math teacher, Robinson Elementary School, Robinson ISD

Machac plans to use her grant money to open the Robinson Rocket Spirit Store. The store, which will sell items to Robinson Elementary students, will be run by students in her math remediation and special education classes and will allow students to learn about real-life use of math, including counting money, making change, calculating profit and loss, banking skills, taking inventory and more.

The skills students learn through their experiences in the store will give them the opportunity to be successful in real-world situations.

Beverly Sue Goodin Herrera
English teacher, J. B. Alexander High School, United ISD

Herrera and her students at Alexander High School plan to use the grant money to create a Tolerance Zone on campus, a place where all students can retreat without fear of being judged.

The majority of the grant will be put toward the creation of a sign that will arch over the entrance of the Tolerance Zone. The sign will read “Anyone who enters here agrees to accept others without comment and lift up our hearts instead of tearing down our souls.” The Tolerance Zone will feature benches and tables, a student-designed mural and plaques featuring inspirational quotes about tolerance.

The Tolerance Zone project has already brought an author and two Holocaust survivors to speak at Alexander High. Herrera hopes to continue bringing speakers to the school through the program.