Lorena Sandoval Herrera is a first-year, fourth grade teacher at Dr. Martha Mead Elementary in San Antonio, Texas.  She teaches students with economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Over the past year, she decided to feature Louisiana Tech University as a core part of her class as a way to broaden her students’ exposure to higher education and other parts of the country. I wrote about Lorena and her class in an earlier blog post: http://guiceblog.latech.edu/2013/11/14/bulldog-pride-in-san-antonio/ Since that time, we have had numerous interactions with Lorena.  The class was able to attend the Tech/UTSA football and basketball games and met with players and coaches.  Some of our alumni, particularly Luis Zinaga, a professional aviation alumnus who lives in San Antonio, reached out to the class and provided materials and information throughout the year. While Lorena’s students might be economically disadvantaged, I am convinced that they are not educationally disadvantaged, particularly under the guidance of Lorena.  Lorena just informed me that she was awarded First Year Educator of the Year for Northside Independent School District.  Congratulations to Lorena!  Well deserved. Lorena sent me a nice video from her class, talking about what Louisiana Tech has meant to them: Here is Lorena’s message of thanks to the Tech Family: Louisiana Tech students, faculty, and alumni, Our class wanted to say thank you for all of the support the university has given us this year. The students tried hard throughout the whole school year and are now able to see their full potential. The alumni have been amazing throughout the year from t-shirts to king’s cake for Mardi Gras, as well as being so accepting of our students at the football and basketball games. The children LOVED the motivational STAAR video they received before testing. We are so thankful to be a part of the Louisiana Tech community! As a first year educator, the support of the Louisiana Tech family has been a tremendous help. Because of the amazing partnership, I was awarded First Year Educator of the Year for Northside Independent School District, and I am so thankful for that. I hope to continue this partnership in the future so that more fourth graders in San Antonio can feel a part of the bulldog family and live to the Tenets of Tech! Thank you all again for your continuous help. Here is a video the students helped create in order to say thank you! Sincerely, Lorena Sandoval Herrera