FW: New School to be Named Irene K. Mendez Elementary
Hurtado, Barbara
Isn’t this so awesome! My kids will be attending this new Elementary School for the 09-10 school year. They will be excited since Irene meant so much to our family. Seeing the picture of her made me so sad. This is when she was very sick. She is surely missed by my family and many others. BH
From: nor...@smcisd.net
[mailto:nor...@smcisd.net]
Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 3:58 PM
To: Hurtado, Barbara
Subject: New School to be Named Irene K. Mendez Elementary
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Barbara Hurtado: On Monday night, November 17, the San Marcos CISD School Board voted to name the new elementary school in honor of veteran SMCISD educator Irene Mendez. A native of San Marcos, Mendez was herself a proud product of the local public schools, having attended Southside Elementary (now Bonham PreK School), San Marcos Junior High and San Marcos High School. After her high school graduation, Mendez earned her Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Education from Southwest Texas State University, now Texas State University, and determined that she wanted to give back to her community. She became a Master Bilingual kindergarten teacher and served SMCISD for 28 years before her life was cut short by cancer. During the 1980’s, Mendez was recognized as a Career Ladder Teacher, an award given for excellence in teaching. Diana Guerrero addressed the school board, stating that Mendez “carried herself with remarkable spirit, moving mountains with her teaching, building skyscrapers with her expectations, and changing the hearts of so many children by enriching their lives with endless possibilities.” Retired SMCISD principal Sarah Lesak added, “She [Mendez] was an example and positive role model to her students and taught them the power of education. She was patient, always finding solutions to any situation, especially if it had to do with educating children.” The school board acknowledged that choosing a name was difficult, for the three candidates submitted by the naming committee for consideration were stellar educators and citizens: Irene Mendez, Johnnie Armstead, and Theodora Scrutchin. Irene K. Mendez Elementary will be located at 1805 Peter Garza Drive, the site of the current Goodnight Junior High School. In late December 2008, Goodnight moves into its new facility at 1301 Highway 123. As soon as it is vacated, the former Goodnight site will be fully renovated throughout the spring and summer so that Irene K. Mendez Elementary can open in fall 2009.
PLEASE
NOTE: This email was distributed via the email distribution list.
11/18/2008 4:58 PM
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