A Hendricks Elementary School teacher was surprised with Chicanos por la Causaβs 2022 Esperanza Latino Teacher Award for her success in achieving high student scores and connecting with Spanish-speaking families during the pandemic.
SaraΓ Martinez, a 25-year-old Tucson native and fifth-grade teacher at the school, received a $5,000 check during the surprise ceremony in her classroom on Tuesday. The school, at 3400 W. Orange Grove Road in the Flowing Wells Unified School District, will also receive an additional $2,500 as part of the award.
βItβs shocking. I donβt think this is real right now,β Martinez said. βItβs something that I never expected, ever, in my lifetime, so itβs pretty cool.β
Principal Tabetha Finchum, who nominated her for the award, said Martinez tackled several obstacles brought by the pandemic with passion and dedication.
βShe took the bull by the horns, accepted the challenge and has done everything she can to create memorable experiences for her students and to ensure that the learning has continued even though the pandemic has made things difficult,β Finchum said.
Martinez was one of four Arizona winners selected for the award this year, two of whom were in the Phoenix area and the other in Miami.
Martinez joined Hendricks in 2019. Since then, students have switched between online and in-person learning.
Recent scoring assessments showed that 72% of Martinezβs students showed mastery on the English language assessment test, compared to 50% of the fifth graders within the Flowing Wells district.
In addition, 68% of her students excelled in the math assessment test, compared to the 32% of fifth graders districtwide.
Extra hand for families
Finchum added that Martinez has also been a key player in helping the school communicate with Spanish-speaking students and families to ensure they had equal access to resources and information during distance learning.
βDuring that time, I was making phone calls and emails, meeting up in person and going to their house sometimes to drop off work for them,β Martinez said.
βIβd try giving them resources and books that I would find outside of the school just to help them get better at it, because some of them would come from Mexico knowing no English, so then I would try to help.β
Martinez said it was mainly her father who taught her the value of learning to communicate in Spanish, and added that he was strict about speaking Spanish at home.
βI didnβt want Spanish at all, just because of how forced it was,β Martinez said. βNow I appreciate my dad for having that in the household. β¦ Because at school, you can learn all the English that you want.β
Martinezβs parents and husband, who were present for the surprise ceremony, beamed with pride as she was presented with the award.
βSheβs very driven. Sheβs always known what she wants to do, how she wants to do things, and sheβs always been focused on what she wants to accomplish,β her mother Haydee Martinez said.
For the future, Martinez said, she hopes to eventually be able to work her way into an administrative role to make a bigger educational impact for students.
