Daniel Leija, a fourth grade teacher at
Esparza ES, is the recipient of the United States Department of Education’s American Star of Teaching award for the state of Texas.

During a fourth grade assembly, where students and teachers thought they were gathering for a writing workshop, U.S. Department of Education’s Carolyn Snowbarger announced that Leijas was selected from over 2,000 applications.

“I had this teacher pegged from the start," Snowbarger said. “Although I don’t have a vote in the process, I just had a good feeling about him.”

Snowbarger serves as the Director of the U.S. Department of Education’s "Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative.” In addressing the students in the assembly, she asked them to think about all the heroes in their lives. “I hope you think about your teachers as your heroes,” she said. “They think about the best ways to teach you all the time—not just when they are in front of you in the classroom.”

For Leija, his heroes were his parents, who were migrant farm workers, working in Reynosa, Mexico and Runge, Texas with their 14 children. “My parents were poorly educated, but they saw to it that every one of their children became a high school graduate ,” he said.

“So kids, you can do it,” he said addressing the students in the audience. “It takes hard work, but you can do it.”

Teaching is Leija’s second career. After serving in the Air Force as a medic for 22½ years, he decided to go into teaching (something he’d always wanted to do.) Through the Troops for Teachers program, he became certified to teach and began teaching at Harmony ES in East Central ISD, and then transferred to Esparza ES two years ago.

“I love this school, these students and the staff,” he said. “I wanted to be a part of this school and was truly blessed when Mrs. (Melva) Matkin was able to make it happen.”

continued on page 2, see Esparza