San Antonio Teacher to Learn Friday if She's Top Educator of the Year

Adriana Abundis Alonzo, a math educator at Sidney Lanier High School in San Antonio, Texas, on Friday will attend the 2022 Salute to Excellence in Education: Celebrating the Best in Public Education and learn if she was selected as the top educator in the country.

Abundis Alonzo has already been named one of five educators to receive the Horace Mann Award for Teaching Excellence and will receive a $10,000 award. At the event, she or one of the other Mann awardees will receive The NEA Foundation's NEA Member Benefits Award for Teaching Excellence and a $25,000 award.

The NEA Foundation holds the annual gala to honor outstanding public school educators and those making a difference in public education. The event is known as the "Academy Awards of Education," and it will be held in person and virtually.

Abundis Alonzo was born and raised in Los Angeles, Abundis says she’s very proud of her Mexican roots. She’s the eldest of four girls. Both her parents came to America from Mexico in hopes of a better life. Education was very important to her family. She was the first person in her family to graduate high school and college.

As a teacher, Abundis Alonzo's goal is to lift her students up and make them feel confident in their abilities. Some of her students are new to the country and still learning English. She has started teaching Algebra in Spanish.

Educators, friends, and supporters will use the event to celebrate outstanding educators and to reflect on their profession's essential role. The gala also will recognize 46 public school educators from across the country for exemplary instruction, advocacy for the profession, and staunch support of public education with the California Casualty Awards for Teaching Excellence.

Sara A. Sneed, President and CEO, The NEA Foundation and Valeria Lassiter, Chair, The NEA Foundation Board of Directors, will provide remarks at the gala. Laura Coates, CNN Senior Legal Analyst, will serve as host.