Debbie Ruel-Schaefer is the Career and Technical Education Director of Northside ISD, the 4th largest school district in Texas with a CTE enrollment of over 30,000 students where they offer over 150 different CTE courses. Debbie is a career educator in her 30th year of helping students to find what they are passionate about. Debbie started her life in CTE in middle school, and knew in high school she wanted to teach in CTE! Her career began as a Family & Consumer Science Teacher after earning her bachelor's degree at Southwest Texas State University, and later a masters in Educational Leadership at Lamar University. She is the mother of Hannah, a CTE student who is pursuing her degree in Speech Pathology from Baylor University.
Email: deborah.ruelschaefer@nisd.net
Nicole Esparza is a Career and Technical Education Specialist for Northside ISD. As a high school CTE Agriculture student, she knew she wanted to become a CTE teacher early on. Her career began as an Agricultural Sciences teacher after earning her degree from Sam Houston State University (Eat ‘Em Up Kats) and later a Masters in Educational Leadership from Texas A&M San Antonio. Nicole is passionate about CTE and believes in its ability to open doors and advance careers for all. She believes that education is her calling and has a moral responsibility to ensure all students have access to rigorous and relevant curriculum that will prepare them for life. Nicole is married to her college sweetheart of over 15 years and has a two year old daughter named Bailey.
Email: nicole.esparza@nisd.net
Joshua S. Roberts is a Career and Technical Education Specialist for Northside ISD. He has been in education for 12 years. Starting in English and transitioning into middle school Technical Education. He later was promoted to central office to help provide support for all CTE teachers. Joshua’s education began at UTSA with a bachelors in Education and later culminated in a masters in Educational Administration. He has a varied work background outside of Education including work in the Culinary and Food Service, Construction, Photography, and Water Treatment industries.
Email: joshua.roberts@nisd.net
Ruth Perez is a Career and Technical Education Instructional Support Teacher for Northside ISD. Before pursuing a career in teaching she worked in industry for 7 years. She began teaching in CTE for SAISD at Jefferson HS then came to the “Promised Land” NISD at Marshall HS. She moved into NISD central office in 2010 to work with CTE Special Populations students. Today she supports all CTE educators in all aspects of teaching to help provide resources for student success. Ruth has a Bachelor’s of Science in Engineering - Industrial Technology from Texas A&M- Kingsville. Ruth is a proud mother of two NISD students, one future NISD student and a wife to an NISD - CTE teacher.
Email: ruth.perez@nisd.net
Barbara White is a Career and Technical Education Instructional Support Teacher and facilitates the clusters of Health Science, Law and Public Safety and CTE Science. She has 16 years of Health Science teaching experience and has spent the past three years in CTE administration. Before her teaching career, she was a certified Medical Technologist and Histocompatibility Specialist and worked 20 years in transplant immunology labs. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and a Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology from the University of Texas at Austin. During her teaching career, she earned a Masters of Education in Teacher Leadership from Lamar University and became a certified Pharmacy Technician and Emergency Medical Technician in order to keep well informed with what students need to learn to be successful. She is the mother of Elizabeth, who is a recent graduate of the University of the Incarnate Word.
Email: barbara.white@nisd.net
Justin Gomez is an Instructional Support Teacher for the NISD CTE Department. He is a proud product of Northside, having attended kindergarten through high school in the district. Justin has been in education for 15 years, with the last 14 in Northside. After graduating from O’Connor High School, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from Texas A&M University and is currently working towards his Masters in Curriculum and Instruction from UTSA. After years of teaching A/V Production and Animation, he taught Algebra for 7 years, before returning to the CTE Department to teach Information Technology, Cybersecurity, and Digital Media. After 12 years of teaching high school CTE and Math courses, he joined the Central Office team where he helps provide resources and guidance for all CTE teachers in the department.
Email: justin.gomez@nisd.net