Lorena Sandoval is a first-year, fourth grade teacher at Dr. Martha Mead Elementary in San Antonio, Texas. Lorena has been an assistant at Mead Elementary for 2 years and knew that she wanted to teach at Mead because of the passion and work ethic of the teachers there. Mead is one of the most unique & diverse campuses in Texas. It is a school that has a population of 835 students, of whom 85% come from an economically disadvantaged background or are considered English language learners. Annette Lopez, Lorena’s Principal noted, “It is our dream to make college a reality for all of our students. In fact, research shows students exposed to college readiness at an earlier age are more likely to stay in school and then pursue either a higher degree at a university or pursue more education after graduating from high school. College readiness is not the belief that every student will go to college. College readiness is the idea that every student deserves the opportunity to be educated in a way that prepares him or her if he or she chooses to attend. At Mead Elementary, we firmly believe that college begins in Kindergarten!”

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This school year, every classroom at Mead is adopting a university around the nation, and Lorena chose to adopt Louisiana Tech. The reason she decided to pick Tech is because of her national connections with a Tech alumnus through her college sorority. During the school year, Lorena made plans to teach her students all about Louisiana Tech and the campus culture in order to promote to students that they have the opportunity to go to college. Lorena contacted us and asked if we could send her some classroom materials and decorations to teach her students about the university. We did that, and just this week received the following report from Lorena. “Dr. Guice, I hope the LA Tech school year is going well. Here at Mead Elementary it is flying by! The children are learning and growing every day, and so is their LA Tech pride! I’ve attached some pictures of our classroom and how the students are inspired by LA Tech every day. They even know the fight song BY HEART! They love singing it any chance they get. Most recently, we sang (shouted!) it after a school walkathon, and my students who stay for tutoring love to sing it in the halls after school. I want to say thank you so much for the support we’ve gotten so far this year! Every “life lesson” we experience in our class is tied back to college – sometimes at the choice of our students. After the first few weeks of school, one of my students KNEW that LA Tech was the school for her, and my boys constantly talk about playing football as a Bulldog. I love to see their faces light up when I show them a new video about LA Tech, such as the one from Fox Sports about Phil Robertson, and the “Game Day” video by the football coaching staff. You can easily see the connection they already feel to the university. The students are counting down the days until the Bulldogs are in town. My family and I will definitely be attending the game if you were still available to meet. Also, you and any other LA Tech alumni, student, faculty, or athlete are invited to come visit our class the Monday after the football game. Unfortunately, we are not in school the week before the game, but we will return to school the Monday after if anyone stays behind! The students would LOVE if anyone could come and visit, even just to tell them more about the university. Lastly, do you know of any way to get tickets for my students and their families for the football game vs. UTSA? I know some would love to come if they had the opportunity. Thank you so much again for the university’s and your support this year. I am excited to see what else the school year has in store for my fourth graders and all of their Bulldog pride!”           Lorena Sandoval I thank Lorena for her passion and dedication to these students and her demonstrated commitment to make a difference in their lives.  If you’d like to know more about Lorena and her ‘San Antonio Bulldogs’ or express your own support of them, drop me a line.