A grocery company did something most people wouldn’t expect a grocery company to do on Sunday night in Houston during an awards ceremony that somehow felt more like a real celebration than a corporate obligation. In addition to giving $480,000 to educators, including teachers, counselors, principals, and school boards, H-E-B invited Emmy Award-winning actress Sheryl Lee Ralph, who is best known for her role as a kindergarten teacher on “Abbott Elementary,” to give the keynote address. The optics were intentional and effective. However, it was worth watching the people who were being honored.
The San Antonio region produced three of this year’s winners, and taken as a whole, they represent something worth considering outside of the actual ceremony. The Lifetime Achievement Secondary Award was given to New Braunfels High School math teacher Kevin Korpi. After graduating from New Braunfels in 1992, he left and returned in 1999 to teach at his former school. Since then, he has spent over 25 years in the same building, the same hallways, and perhaps even some of the same classrooms where he was a student. It’s difficult not to wonder what it means for the children who pass through his classroom knowing that their teacher made the conscious decision to stay, as that kind of continuity is becoming less common in American public education.
Korpi received a $25,000 grant for New Braunfels High School in addition to $25,000 in cash. He refers to himself as a “proud Unicorn”—a reference to his school’s mascot—with what appears to be sincere affection. It’s a minor detail, but it reveals something about the type of investment made that isn’t evident in administrative metrics or test results.
Kristen Guerra, a counselor at Pieper High School in Comal ISD, is another. She received a $15,000 grant for her school and $10,000 for herself after winning the School Counselor Secondary Award. Guerra’s recognition is especially noteworthy because only two counselors in the state were able to win in their respective categories this year, elementary and secondary. According to Pieper’s principal, she “meets students where they are” and promotes futures that the students are still unable to envision. The idea that a counselor’s role includes holding a vision of a student’s potential before the student can hold it themselves may sound like the kind of words that end up on a plaque and are forgotten. That’s a big deal.
The Menchaca Early Childhood Center in Southside ISD, which opened in 2018 and serves up to 855 preschoolers and kindergarteners, was the third San Antonio-area honoree. The Early Childhood Award and $25,000 were given to the center. The recognition seems to have some weight because Southside ISD serves a community that isn’t always on the list when Texas education funding discussions take place in Austin. Teachers, staff, the school board, and families have collaborated to create an environment where young children are “inspired, supported, and set up for long-term success,” according to the superintendent. The center’s success in a statewide competition indicates that something is working, whether that is entirely accurate or merely aspirational.
Since launching this awards program in 2002, H-E-B has given out almost $15 million. That’s a private business filling a void that seems like it should be funded by the government, and it’s doing it with a consistency and seriousness that most corporate education programs fall short of. Observing this develop year after year gives the impression that H-E-B has an understanding of the relationship between public schools and community institutions that isn’t always reflected in policy language. In addition to conducting site visits, regional judging panels, and a statewide call for nominations, the company also involves university students in the application review process. The procedure is harder than it seems.
Whether awards programs like this one have any systemic effects is still unknown. Before the cameras showed up, the honored teachers were already working. However, when handled properly, recognition has the power to change how a community views its educators as well as how a profession views itself. One award cycle at a time, H-E-B may be creating something more enduring.
