Duncan was recognized for her exemplary performance among campus level administrators in the region.
“I am honored and humbled to have been named the high school assistant principal of the year,” Duncan said. “I am blessed to be part of this great district that offers students endless opportunities.”
Duncan has more than 28 years of experience in education. She spent 21 years teaching English at the secondary and college level. In 2010, she became an assistant principal at Escontrias Elementary School where she helped the campus obtain its National Blue Ribbon School Award for its academic excellence. Prior to joining the Socorro High School leadership team, she was an assistant principal at Montwood High School.
“The best part about being an educator is working with the students and seeing them graduate,” she said. “Our job is to support our students, teachers, and our staff so they can be successful.”
Her focus on college readiness made her a great fit as the director of the Socorro Early College program, said Socorro High School principal Josh Tovar.
“She is a dedicated servant leader who works in the best interest of our students as they are getting ready for academia, and the world of work,” Tovar said.
Duncan was nominated for the award by her peers and a TASSP selection committee. She will be recognized at the annual TASSP conference next June in Austin.
Two students in the program, Bryan Macias-Ovalles and Alexis Limantour, had the opportunity to intern with Beltran Electrical this summer. The young electricians, who will be juniors at Socorro High School this year, have sharpened their skills learning the latest electrical system instruction while earning a paycheck.
“I’m very proud to have been accepted to this program because this is something I want to do when I graduate,” Limantour said. “We do something new every day, and everything I’ve learned in school has helped me a lot.”
To intern, students had to write an essay explaining why they wanted to become electricians. The student electricians are now working at construction sites performing tasks such as wiring, bending pipe, putting up lights, and fixtures. Once they complete their internship, the hours they’ve invested will be applied to the four-year apprenticeship program.
“They have a great (electrical trades) program at Socorro,” said Julian Beltran, head of recruitment and marketing for the company. “The students are learning important things and they came in knowing quite a bit so they are able to do more advanced things.”
Many students in Socorro’s electrical trades program join the workforce as electricians after they graduate from high school, said Robert Facio, the electrical trades instructor.
“It has been a pleasure to see students graduate and be successful in their careers as electricians,” he said. “The electrical skills that students learn in class range from residential, commercial, and industrial areas. They are able to apply their skills in real-world situations with confidence to do the best job out there.”
Electrical trades is one of many career and technical education programs SISD offers its students. The programs provide students unmatched opportunities for them to graduate from high school prepared for the workforce with industry recognized certifications and licenses.
To learn more about SISD’s CTE program, click here.
“This is a great tradition,” said Fabiola Armendariz, the academy’s coordinator. “Students are so excited and the parents, too. This is their first step into the program.”
The event at the high school’s theater was a formal recognition of the students as chosen HPA members and as future health-care providers. During the ceremony, a parent, family member or special friend assisted the student with the stethoscope and donning the white coat on stage.
HPA, now in its 26th year, was the first of its kind in the district and the region. As part of the program, students do clinical rotations at University Medical Center, Highlands Rehab Hospital, Del Sol/Las Palmas Medical Centers, The Hospitals of Providence – East Campus, Adobe Animal Hospital, Americas HS medically fragile unit, Socorro HS fundamental skills unit and various SISD elementary schools with school nurses.
Amanda Canales, a freshman, wants to become an anesthesiologist. She feels proud to have been accepted into the four-year program.
“It’s such a big accomplishment,” Canales said. “This ceremony means I am a permanent part of the program. I am so happy and my parents are happy, too.”
Yvette Melendez, whose daughter Melanie Melendez also received her white coat, said the ceremony opens a new chapter in her daughter’s life.
“She is now learning about the medical field because she wants to be a pharmacist,” Melendez said. “This is going to be a new edition to her learning experience. We are all very excited for what the future holds.”
To view the entire gallery, click here.
The family reading program, offered in 11 SISD schools, is designed to engage and establish reading routines between parents and their children.
It also offers parents of middle and high school students information regarding high school and college courses their children can take, and assists them with the college application process.
“This is a great program for parents to be involved at the campus level,” said Karina Schulte, SISD’s bilingual director. “We are helping parents to come in and learn how to better support their kids through literacy.”
The goal for the 2017-2018 school year is for the literacy program to be included at all SISD schools, Schulte said.
At the recognition, SISD Superintendent Dr. José Espinoza spoke to families, congratulating parents for being involved in their children’s education and the importance of families reading together.
Annette Roa, a mother of two students at Bill Sybert School, joined the program because her family was looking for something they could do together. She loved getting to know the other parents.
“The most important thing was it opened the doors for us to read together as a family,” Roa said. “We would go home, sit down and start reading. We were really amazed. My son also picked up the Spanish language in the process, which was another reason we got involved. The atmosphere was awesome. It was just something cool and fun to do with my kids.”
In addition to a catered dinner, families were entertained by Socorro High School’s mariachi group and the Mission Ridge Elementary School ballet and folklorico team.
In an effort to raise awareness and increase the number of organ donors within the state of Texas, student council organizations in the Socorro Independent School District partnered with Donate Life Texas to participate in “Dare to Dream. Dare to Do,” the annual Texas Association of Student Councils (TASC) campaign to help the cause.
The statewide project will allow Team SISD student council groups to educate the community about the need for organ/tissue donations, and encourage them to register as donors. The goal is to make a difference by saving lives.
According to Donate Life America, 125,000 men, women and children await lifesaving organ transplants, and every 10 minutes another person is added to the list.
“A few weeks ago I met a lady who shared her story of battling cancer for more than ten years and how grateful she was for her lung and kidney transplant,” said Flor Dominguez, senior student at Socorro High School and the student council community service chair. “It wasn’t until I looked into her eyes that I fully understood the impact a donor can have.”
Each campus will strive to meet its goal of 200 registrations to have a collective total of more than 1,000 registrations. The schools will promote registrations at basketball games, school assemblies, parent nights and on their school websites.
“This is a unique project,” said Lorraine Varela, student activities director at Americas High School. “It’s teaching students the importance of giving back and true service, helping one another. We are extremely excited to be a part of such a large project that will essentially help save lives.”
To learn more about the “Dare to Dream. Dare to Do” initiative click HERE. Below are the links for the SISD school campaigns.
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