April 2021 Newsletter Vol. 2 Iss. 8
April 2021 | Vol.2, Iss. 8 April 2021 Newsletter
Congratulations, Gonzalo Salazar!
Vol. 2, Iss. 8 | April 2021 RGV LEAD Board member Elected to State Leadership Role It was with great pride that Lizzy de la Garza Putegnat announced to the RGV LEAD Board that Dr. Gonzalo Salazar, Los Fresnos CISD Superintendent, and RGV LEAD board member, was recently selected by the Texas Association of School Administrators to serve in a leadership role in the statewide organization. “Salazar, who has been the Los Fresnos superintendent since 2006, has been an active member of the association for 15 years. He has represented Region One on the TASA Executive Commit-tee for [...]
Norma Salazar Shares Her Story
Vol. 2, Iss. 8 | April 2021 Norma Salazar Shares Her Story The African proverb: “It takes a village to raise a child ” couldn’t be truer – nobody truly succeeds on their own without others impacting their lives in some way. ~ Norma Higher Education Educator of the Year WHEN I HEARD our keynote speaker at the RGV LEAD Conference, Mr. David Leal talk about his former teacher, Mr. Reyna, from Brown Middle School in McAllen, it took me back to a story I recount every Christmas about Mr. Reyna, who also happened to be my [...]
Thought for the Month: Don’t Wait!
Vol. 2, Iss. 8 | April 2021 “Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great.” ~ Orison Swett Marden AUTHOR, PUBLISHER Thought for the Month April 2021 “Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Weak men wait for opportunities; strong men make them.” In reading this quote, I reflected on the past year and how the pandemic and the unexpected freeze have altered our way of life. We see the world through a different set of glasses. We don’t see germs, and never have, but now we are [...]
Juanita Baldwin Ambassador Orientation Keynote Speaker
Vol. 2, Iss. 8 | April 2021 RGV LEAD Ambassador Orientation Keynote Speaker You can take the Valley girl out of the Valley but you can’t take the Valley out of the girl! ~ Juanita Baldwin, SHRM-CP, PHR Education and Outreach Coordinator Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Originally from Brownsville, Juanita Baldwin now lives and works in the Austin area, where she graduated from the University of Texas with a bachelor’s degree in Human Resources. Although she no longer lives in Brownsville, she was quick to point out that her roots are deeply embedded in the Rio Grande [...]
Oneida V. Molina, La Feria High School Senior, Delivers Welcome Address
Vol.2, Iss. 8 | April 2021 Oneida V. Molina, La Feria High School Senior, Delivers RGV LEAD Ambassador Orientation Welcome Address I am happy to say that RGV Lead has surpassed my expectations and has given me insight into skills and net-working that will benefit me in the future. ~ Oneida Molina “Good morning and welcome to the 2021 RGV Lead Ambassador Orientation. It is great to see so many student leaders in one place, although that place is Zoom. My name is Oneida V Molina and I am a current junior at Los Fresnos High School. This [...]
RGV LEAD Ambassadors Virtual Orientation
Vol. 2, Iss. 8 | April 2021 RGV LEAD Ambassadors Virtual Orientation “Leaders aren’t born; they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.” ~ Vince Lombardi Take a folding canopy, support it with several spokes, join them in the center, lift them up, and what do you get? You’ll get a gigantic RGV LEAD umbrella. RGV LEAD has many initiatives under its umbrella, but one that is near and dear to its heart is the RGV LEAD [...]
Academic Leadership Alliance Goes Virtual!
Vol. 2, Iss. 8 | April 2021 Academic Leadership Alliance Goes Virtual! Educators from several school districts across the Rio Grande Valley met on March 31st to gather information from RGV LEAD on the pilot A-L-A Summer Educator Externship which is scheduled to take place June 14 - 18. Educators participating in the program will be paired with businesses relative, but not limited to, to the subjects they are teaching. An example would be that a math teacher will visit a construction site to better understand how to integrate the need for math in the career area. Employer topics [...]
RGV LEAD Participates in JET Grant Presentation
Vol. 2, Iss. 8 | April 2021 RGV LEAD Participates in Jobs and Education for Texas (JET) Grant Presentation Jobs & Education for Texans (JET) Grant Program Congratulations to all RGV LEAD partners and Julian Alvarez, Texas Workforce Commission and former RGV LEAD Board member, for being here to present 11 local school districts 2.6 million in Jobs & Education for Texans (JET) Grants. The JET program provides grants to eligible educational institutions to defray the start-up costs associated with developing career and technical education programs. JET grants provide potential economic returns through supporting new, emerging industries [...]
Sharyland ISD Continues Virtual Mentoring Program
Vol. 2, Iss. 8 | April 2021 Sharyland ISD Continues Virtual Mentoring Program The 2020-2021 school year is wrapping up, but Sharyland ISD is going full speed ahead with their RGV LEAD - Sharyland ISD Mentoring Program. Utilizing the RGV Mentor curriculum, counselors at the Sharyland high schools are supplying mentors with topics of discussion while meeting with mentees. Mentors are given an opportunity to meet with mentees once a month during the lunch period in which they can discuss career skills as well as life skills. Janie Johnston Lopez, RGV LEAD, met with her mentees to discuss [...]
