Texas Border Business
The McAllen ISD Board of Trustees and a teacher were honored as finalists at the annual H-E-B Excellence in Education awards held Sunday night in Austin.
The Trustees were one of just five finalists in Texas for the School Board Leadership category. Lamar Academy teacher Rachelle Downey was recognized as a finalist for the Secondary Lifetime Achievement award.
A veteran of 24 years in the classroom, Mrs. Downey teaches English in the school’s International Baccalaureate Programme. In 2009-10, she was a Campus and District Teacher of the Year. She became a Regional Teacher of the Year in 2010-11. In May 2011, she earned H-E-B’s School Leadership Secondary award.Â
Created in 2002, the H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards are designed to honor outstanding public school professionals and to thank them for their dedication and commitment. Through this program, H‑E‑B seeks to pay tribute to those educators who go the extra mile each and every day to serve their students and their communities and who inspire others to do the same.
H-E-B asks customers, Partners (employees) and community members to nominate teachers, principals, districts, early childhood facilities and school boards in Texas. Each nominee is sent an invitation to complete an application online and is asked about their professional experiences, educational philosophies,
A team of judges reviews the applications, narrowing the field to semi-finalists. From that pool, five regional judging panels comprised of former winners, administrators, and university and community leaders not affiliated with H-E-B select 40 teacher and principal finalists.
H-E-B, with sales of more than $24.6 billion, operates more than 390 stores in Texas and Mexico.
