Kindergarten Teacher Maria Porras is April Teacher of the Month

PRESIDIO – Mrs. Maria Porras is Presidio ISD Teacher of the Month for April 2019. Porras has been working for the district for 28 years. She worked as a teacher aide for 13 years until she decided to pursue her career as a teacher. She began taking long-distance courses through distance learning until she had to begin commuting to Sul Ross State University to complete her education courses and student teaching. Finally, Mrs. Porras received her Bachelors of Arts degree with a specialization in Bilingual Education in 2004.

As a teacher aide, she had the opportunity to grow in many different areas. She became the newcomers’ program aide, library aide, computer lab aide, Elementary yearbook editor, and LPAC Clerk to name a few.

Mrs. Porras got certified as a teacher in 2005. She has been an excellent teacher making sure that our students are receiving the best education possible. She will go the extra mile to help the students under her care. She is also the mentor of our new teacher giving extra hours including Saturdays and Sundays to make sure that lessons and instructional activities are well planned.

Aside from being an effective teacher, she also participated in many school activities and has been an active member of several committees like GT Committee, CCI, STEM Committee, Accelerated Reading committee, Student Council Organization, DWEIC Committee, SHAC Committee, STAAR Testing Committee. She has been credited as a UIL coach, and responsible for many awards our students received in the area of Spelling and Art.

Finally, she has been the PES UIL Coordinator for several years now. For Mrs. Porras this year was one of the most challenging and rewarding years. Her hard work and dedication along with all the teacher-coaches and students paid off. The campus was able to go out and excel in almost all categories which made our school the champions in the 2018 UIL competition. We finally got the 1st place after trying for several years. She is the woman behind the success of our UIL participation.