#extraordinaryahisd Staff
POWERING THE PROFILE
A Presidential Scholar’s Most Influential Teacher
Healthy Sense of Self
Alamo Heights High School’s Colin Lang was nominated by AHHS Presidential Scholar and 2020 graduate, Christopher Lloyd and has been recognized nationally as one of only 5,000 teachers from across the nation for this distinction.
Anna Duce and Libby Perez of Howard Early Childhood Center embrace the Profile of a Learner, powering it for their students to help them develop a HEALTHY SENSE OF SELF. When you step into their neighboring classrooms, you are pulled into their lessons right along with the students! Students are engaged in self-reflection, thinking about responsibility and personal choice, actions and mistakes. Take a peek into their classrooms through our Powering the Profile series to see how a lesson in character helps students develop and strengthen their HEALTHY SENSE OF SELF. See this duo, and the other outstanding teachers noted below, in action on our district YouTubeChannel: Alamo Heights Mules.
The White House Commission on Presidential Scholars selects scholars annually based on their academic success, artistic and technical excellence, essays, school evaluations, and transcripts, as well as evidence of community service, leadership, and demonstrated commitment to high ideals. Presidential Scholars have the opportunity to nominate an outstanding teacher for the Presidential Scholars Distinguished Teacher Recognition Program. Christopher immediately thought of Colin Lang.
Seek Knowledge & Understanding Melissa Meza embraces the Profile of a Learner as a Teacher and powers it for her students through her enthusiasm for learning. When you step into her classroom, you are pulled into her lessons through her energy and excitement about her content. She helps her students SEEK KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING because she has a true desire to do the same, exhibiting intellectual curiosity and in such, showing the value of her own learning. In this lesson, you will see how she maximizes resources used in today’s social media world, to expand her student’s knowledge of the past.
Christopher shared, “During my time in the rocketry program, I saw Mr. Lang give nothing less than his full attention, loyalty, and dedication to his students and our mission. Whether it was staying late on a Friday so we could have a few extra - and crucial - hours in the shop, or the constant reassurance that when things inevitably go wrong (as his famous saying tells us) there is always a solution to be found, he always demonstrated a commitment to his students and enthusiasm for the rocketry program. He taught me how to bridge the worlds of scientific theory and practical engineering, exposed me to industry practices, introduced me to professionals, and pushed me to become the leader, thinker, and problem solver that I am today. Now, a proper speech wouldn’t be complete these days without a reference to our beloved pandemic, but in this case, it really is appropriate. When our shop was shut down last spring, we faced a problem: we had a rocket - or rather the materials for a rocket - locked in a building we couldn’t safely access, and a shrinking time frame to achieve a goal that most of us had been pursuing throughout all of high school. Once again, Mr. Lang rose to solve the problem, as he always taught us to do, and gave countless hours of his valuable time and dedication to our team as we finished over the summer.
Employ Skills for Life Alamo Heights Junior School special education teachers Charley Gilbert and Darci Woods continue to set the precedent when EMPLOYING SKILLS FOR LIFE for their students. Meet the duo that engages students from the moment they walk in the door.
I wish I could be there with all of you celebrating his accomplishments and terrific career as a teacher, but it’s Mr. Lang’s success and achievements as an educator that helped put me at a place like Duke. I wouldn’t trade my experiences with him for anything else. Congratulations! You deserve it!” Colin is one of only 161 teachers nationwide nominated by students for this honor in 2020. He is one of only four distinguished teachers in Texas.
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