BURBANK MIDDLE SCHOOL SUPERSTARS

Burbank Middle School is the Shining Star of the Northside no doubt because of its amazing faculty. Burbank is blessed with a group of dedicated professionals who give their best to their students each and every single day. It's the Burbank Way! This year, we have two members of our faculty who have been honored in a very special way. 

Mr. Adam Meza came to Burbank MS from El Paso, Texas, earning his degree at the University of El Paso. He is an experienced teacher who has taught not only in his native El Paso, Texas, but also in exotic places such as the city of Taipei in Taiwan. He was elected Burbank Middle School's 2022-2023 ESL Teacher of the Year and has now been selected the Houston Independent School District ESL Teacher of the Year.

Congratulations to Mr. Meza!

It is quite an amazing event to achieve forty-five years of experience in your chosen profession, and that is precisely what Dr. Mary Velasquez has accomplished! She has been a pioneer in ESL education in the district, and dare we say, in the nation! Just as an example of her educational endeavors, she started the ESL Program in the Content Areas at Burbank Middle School back in 1985. By 1993, she developed the Secondary Bilingual Program for Recent Arrivals (¡Adelante Con Ganas!), in 1997 the Dual Language Program, and a year later, in 1998, the Dual Language Vanguard as well as the Dual Language for Special Education students. She also brought Spanish for high school credit classes to Burbank students, adding the Advanced Spanish class in 2009. All this is happening at the same time that she's organizing a wonderfully rich and varied Cinco de Mayo Program, which this year celebrates its 36th year of existence. Hundreds of students have participated in this program, which holds wonderful memories for generations!

It is not surprising that Dr. Velasquez is affectionately called "The Queen of Burbank"!