We love teachers! Help Houston Life celebrate amazing educators as they head back to school

HOUSTON – Teachers can make such an important impact on their students’ lives, and they often give more than they receive. Houston Life and Shell Federal Credit Union teamed up for a full week to show special teachers some love as they return to the classroom.

Share a photo of your favorite teacher so we can give them a shout-out on Houston Life! Scroll down and click the link.

Throughout the first full week of school, we have been spreading back-to-school love by teaming up with Shell Federal Credit Union and sending Houston Life’s Melanie Camp to schools across Houston to celebrate some amazing teachers. Mel has had a lot of fun bursting into classrooms and surprising teachers.

On Friday, we honored elementary school teacher Mr. Jose Razo by surprising him in class at North Shore Elementary.

Watch our final surprise for the week on Houston Life in the video below.

Watch the surprise here:

For Thursday’s surprise, Ms. Carr was busy teaching 5th grade at Roosevelt Alexander Elementary in Katy and had no idea that just outside her door, waiting to come in, was a big surprise! Houston Life reporter, Melanie Camp along with Jackie Espinosa from Shell Federal Credit Union, Ms. Carr’s Children, parents, and co-workers burst into Ms. Carr’s classroom to show appreciation for all the great work she does as an educator.

Watch the surprise here:

It was time to celebrate Mrs. Melissa Griffith at Hightower High School in Missouri City on Wednesday. Mrs. Griffith was busy teaching class when Houston Life’s Melanie Camp and Jackie Espinoza from Shell Federal Credit Union burst into her classroom.

Watch the surprise here:

Mrs. Griffith has worked as an educator for 25 years, about 22 of them in Fort Bend ISD and 18 at Hightower High. Currently, she teaches advanced placement classes in psychology and macroeconomics. The surprise went down while Mrs. Griffith was teaching her her PALS—Peer Assistance and Leadership Students. This is a group of older students who mentor younger ones. The Hightower group is very involved in mentoring elementary students at Goodman and Rosa Parks.

Our Tuesday surprise took place in Ms. Kaileigh Dempsey’s kindergarten class at San Jacinto Elementary. Ms. Dempsey was in the middle of teaching her students to count to twenty when Houston Life’s Melanie Camp and Traci Gianukos from Shell Federal Credit Union walked into the classroom to present Ms. Dempsey with a back-to-school gift basket that included a $250 Visa gift card.

Ms. Dempsey has taught multiple grade levels, making a huge impact on her students’ lives along the way. For a short period of time, she worked as an instructional coach, helping other teachers improve their curriculum, but after a couple of years, she realized she missed the classroom too much. When she was younger, she attended the original San Jacinto Elementary. Last year, she adopted two students from the school.

“She has changed their lives in such a short amount of time and given them the stability they have needed. To see her become a mom overnight, in such an effortless way, too, has been amazing. Because I am a mom too, but I had nine months to prepare! But, Ms. Dempsey just went in and said, ‘I’m going to do this...’” said San Jacinto Elementary Principal Ms. Crystal Castillo.

Watch Ms. Dempsey’s surprise in this video here:

On Monday, we celebrated Ms. Amelia Nealey, a much-loved part of the family at Ursula Stephens Elementary. Ms. Nealey is dedicated to bridging gaps in education. She kicked off her 17 years of teaching by earning a Bachelor’s degree from Texas Southern University, followed by a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Texas at Arlington.

The Houston Area Alliance of Black School Educators (HAASBE) named Ms. Nealey Teacher of the Year twice—once in 2019 and again in 2021. During the pandemic, KPRC 2 named Ms. Nealey our May Hero for Katy ISD for her efforts in bridging the gap between home and school.

Outside of teaching, she enjoys shopping, traveling to new places, and collecting cat-related items because Ms. Nealey is a devoted cat enthusiast!

Watch Houston Life surprise Ms. Nealey while she is in the middle of teaching class (and see how many cat pictures you can spot in her classroom) in the video here:

Last year Houston Life reporter Melanie Camp introduced us to five remarkable teachers from the Greater Houston area. Each teacher received a special thank-you gift to brighten their day!

Here are last year’s teacher surprises...

Read about our first teacher surprise HERE and watch the video below to see Houston Life surprise Dr. Butiko in her classroom.

Read about our second teacher surprise HERE and watch the video below to see Houston Life surprise Ms. Woods in her classroom.

Read about our third teacher surprise HERE and watch the video below to see Houston Life surprise Ms. Musgrove in her new office.

Read about our fourth teacher surprise HERE and watch the video below to see Houston Life surprise Ms. Lee in the middle of teaching a class.

Read about our fifth teacher surprise HERE and watch the video below to see Houston Life surprise Mr. Smith in the hallway at Deepwater Elementary School.

Happy back-to-school!

Our first Teacher is Dr. Butiko who teaches ESL at Hodges Bend Middle School in Fort Bend ISD. Typically, her students know zero English. Last year, Dr. Butiko was a FBISD Teacher of the Year finalist, so it only made sense to recognize the passion she puts into her job as a teacher.

Our second Teacher is Ms. Leanne Woods who is a bilingual math teacher at Ball High School in Galveston. Everyone in her class has only been in the United States for two years of less and for none of them speak English as their first language.

Our third teacher is Ms. Melodie Musgrove. Mayor Sylvester Turner proclaimed Aug 8 ‘Melodie Musgrove Day’ in honor of the Walnut Bend Elementary School teacher!

Our fourth teacher is Ms. Canita Lee from Tomball Memorial High School. Ms. Lee empowers her students to take on challenges and succeed, inspiring them to find the strength within to aim high in life.

Students, parents, and coworkers LOVE the fifth teacher we surprised. Mr. Barry Smith has been motivating students at Deepwater elementary School for 20 years.