Isidro Lerma, a theatre arts teacher from McAllen ISD’s James “Nikki” Rowe High School, has earned Regional Secondary Teacher of the Year honors by the Region One Education Service Center. In the past 35 years, McAllen ISD teachers have earned 23 Regional or State Teacher of the Year titles – the most in the South Texas Region. This year, the Region One Education Service Center celebrated 51 district teachers of…
Gina Cano-Monreal, Ph.D., is the new provost of Texas State Technical College’s Harlingen campus, effective July 29. Cano-Monreal previously served as the college’s associate vice chancellor for instructional shared services, supporting TSTC’s 12 campuses across the state. In that role, the Harlingen native oversaw curriculum quality and alignment, instructional design and support, and instructional resources and solutions. “TSTC is making significant investments to expand premier technical training in the Rio…
South Texas College Continuing Education is currently holding free Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, Basic Life Support and first aid classes with certification from the American Heart Association. Registration is now open to anyone in the community including health care professionals, police officers and community members who seek training that can help save lives in emergency situations. The free CPR courses are funded by a grant from Texas Mutual, which has been providing…
South Texas College Assistant Professor of Psychological Science Liza Veliz has been appointed to serve on the Committee on Associate and Baccalaureate Education, a national-level committee under the American Psychological Association’s Board of Educational Affairs. Veliz will officially begin her term in January 2026, representing psychology faculty at two-year colleges nationwide. Her position comes from being nominated by colleagues from across the country recognizing her leadership, advocacy and commitment to…
The International Museum of Art & Science invites families to celebrate the start of the school year at its annual Back to School Bash on Aug. 16 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The family-friendly event offers free admission and a full day of interactive learning, creativity and community connection. Back to School Bash, supported by McAllen Public Utility, H-E-B Helping Here and Wonderful Citrus, will feature hands-on art and…
The demographics of Winter Texans are changing and professionals in the tourism and hospitality industries are calling for more frequent studies and research into this vital group of visitors with deep connections to the Rio Grande Valley. Leah Woolridge, the vice president of Visit McAllen, sees an age shift among Winter Texans. Retirees are younger, more active and looking for things to do, she said. “You use to be able…
As school has started or will very soon, let’s ease off the accelerator and keep an eye out for our little ones. Hot summer temperatures of course are really kicking in, and so are the classroom doors for a new year of learning, growing and exploring. Back-to-school sales, stuffing the backpacks and new sneakers are all part of daily lives this month. The roads are again congested, and the frequent…
Princeton University student Wendy Kopp formulated the idea of Teach For America in 1989 for her undergraduate thesis. The first participants in the nascent TFA program began their lifelong pursuit of educational excellence in 1990. Teach for America Rio Grande Valley was founded the following year. The national organization and its affiliates around the country are non-profit institutions. They recruit and train recent college graduates and professionals to teach in…
The Delta Area communities of Edcouch, Elsa and La Villa are a cluster of cities along state Highway 107 and located away from the main strip of regional business activity along Expressway 83. These communities are steadily getting a foothold in raising their collective profile in the Rio Grande Valley. Elsa is seeing retail growth and the rooftops of new homes along FM 88 that are located near a Wal-Mart…
The Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation, in partnership with the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation and the UTRGV Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Center, is now accepting applications for the Startup Texas Accelerator Fall 2025 cohort. The accelerator helps early-stage startups refine their business models, access funding opportunities and build the connections necessary for growth in Brownsville. The program focuses on entrepreneurs in high-impact sectors such as cybersecurity, digital health, e-commerce, automation, environmental technology…