De Zavala Elementary teacher Diana Garcia, was honored as a 2022 recipient of the Humanities Texas Outstanding Teaching of the Humanities Award.
Representatives from Humanities Texas, San Marcos CISD Superintendent Dr. Michael Cardona, cabinet members, SMCISD Board of Trustees members, community members and De Zavala students congratulated Garcia during an award ceremony held Wednesday, April 5.
“I’m very, very honored,” Garcia said. “I’m really surprised by all of this. Gloria Salazar of Centro Cultural [Hispano de San Marcos] is here … she’s the one who nominated me. I had never heard of this award before.”
Garcia told the students and guests in attendance that she’s “humbled and appreciative” to receive the award.
“So, children, I hope you’ll do the work so that maybe someday you’ll be standing in front of people saying, ‘yay, we’re proud of you, you did it.’ And, same to my fellow teachers,” Garcia said. “De Zavala, y’all are Diamonds. This is a great school to work at.”
In all, Humanities Texas honored 15 teachers across the state with this award which recognizes exemplary K-12 humanities teachers. Recipients eligible for the award are teachers of English, language arts, foreign languages, history, and social studies. Honorees received a $5,000 cash award and an additional $1,000 for their schools to purchase humanities-based instructional materials.
Liz James, Humanities Texas Director of Education, said winning the award is no small feat.
“We had, last year, over 500 teachers nominated for this award,” James said. “Texas is a big state, so in order to win this award you can’t just be a qualified applicant, you really have to be an outstanding educator. Ms. Garcia teaches her students that the humanities — history, literature, art — play an important role in our lives, and our ability to understand and connect with the world around us. She not only really instills a love of learning in her students but also helps them build crucial skills that they need, like empathy, problem solving, communication, writing, critical thinking, all while challenging them to view things from multiple and diverse perspectives. What more can you ask from a teacher?”
De Zavala Principal Nicole Recio said Garcia makes a huge impact on her student’s lives as well as her colleagues.
“I cannot undervalue how much of an impact she’s already made on me as a person and to know what she has done for this community, and for our students, and our fellow faculty for the last 14 years is just something that we need to sometimes sit back and reflect how one person can make such a huge impact,” Recio said. “That is something Ms. Garcia does every day when she tries to instill this value in our students that what they’re experiencing today impacts tomorrow and beyond.”
Recio reflected upon Garcia’s leadership, emphasizing the impact she makes on her students.
“She believes in putting her students first,” Recio said. “She empowers them. When you walk into her classroom, she’s not just calling them students. If they are learning about science, they’re scientists. If they are writing, they are authors. She does this through her language, through her actions, and by not being fearful of telling them about things that are happening in the world and teaching them how to go out in this world and make it a place where we are all happy.”
