On Saturday, May 3, H-E-B announced statewide winners of the 13th Annual H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards during a banquet at Houston’s Royal Sonesta Hotel. A the ceremony, H-E-B Chairman and CEO Charles Butt personally handed out $430,000 in cash awards and grants, and congratulated eight educators, two school districts, one early childhood agency, and a public school board for being among the best in Texas.
Rosbel Pena, a teacher at Alton Memorial Jr. High School (AMJH) was selected for the Lifetime Achievement Award. This award salutes teachers with more than 20 years of experience. Pena received $25,000 in cash. Alton Memorial Jr. High School will also receive $25,000.
Pictured at the award ceremony, from left to right are: Winell Herron, H-E-B Group Vice President of Public Affairs, Diversity, and Environmental Affairs; Rosbel Pena, Alton Memorial Jr. High School Teacher; Craig Boyan, H-E-B Chief Operating Officer.
H-E-B asked customers, partners, and community members to nominate teachers, principals, districts, early childhood facilities, and school boards in Texas. Each nominee was sent an invitation to complete an application online and was asked about their professional experiences, educational philosophies and achievements both in and out of the classroom.
A team of judges unaffiliated with H-E-B reviewed the applications and narrowed the field to sime-finalists. From that pool, five regional judging panes comprised of former winners, administrators, and university and community leaders selected 40 teacher and principal finalists. Finalists and their schools received a cash prize. Teacher and principal finalists were invited to Houston May 2-3 to compete on a statewide level for larger cash prizes totaling more than $400,000.
A statewide panel of judges conducted a personal interview with each individual finalist to select winners, which were announced at the celebratory dinner on May 3.
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