Quick Bio
I am a first-generation college student. When I graduated from high school, I thought I knew what I wanted to do and be as an adult. Upon graduation from the University of North Texas with a degree in Psychology, I didn't find a job in my field. While in corporate America,  I decided to get my master's degree in Human Resources from Dallas Baptist University. I loved what I did, but then it wasn't fun anymore. I decided to get my teaching certificate so I could eventually be a school counselor. After teaching for 8 years and earning master's degree in Counseling from the University of North Texas-Dallas, I became a school counselor.

Why I pursued education or serving children
When I was a senior in high school, I didn't know where to turn to for financial aid to attend college. I had help choosing a school, but not a lot of direction in how to pay for it. I was ranked 3rd in my small high school and was an athlete, but my high school didn't have a counselor to navigate the scholarship waters.  As the older child, I felt it was my responsibility to make sure my brother signed up for the standardized tests he needed to take to apply for college and get enrolled. I really enjoyed it! As the Assistant Youth Director at my church, I had the opportunity to provide information to graduating seniors on planning for life after high school. One of the students I helped said she chose to become a teacher because of me. Another family used the information I provided and shared it with other family members. I wanted to help the "average" student; the student who was not the athlete or the student ranked in the top of their class. I wanted to make sure I was able to help the students that flew under the radar.

What keeps me here
Education is my passion, calling, and ministry.  I worked in corporate America for over 20 years and didn't find what fulfilled me until I became an educator. I can share the gift that I have been blessed with to help others, especially those who need help the most. I didn't have to stay in the classroom to help. There are so many opportunities within education that allow me to take care of our future. 

Graduation Collage: High school graduation, Undergraduate graduation-UNT, grad school-Dallas Baptist University and UNT-Dallas

Grandfather: My paternal grandfather was 57 years old when he earned his high school GED. At age 65, he graduated from Southern Bible Institute. 

Shared by Evetta L. McGriff

My dream job growing up was becoming a lawyer. I am a very righteous kind of person. I seek justice in everything and believe in things that are right. I've always felt that right is right and wrong is wrong and I'm always going to choose the right side even if that means going against someone that I love. It won't mean that I don't love them but right is right and wrong is wrong.

My bachelor's degree is in Criminal Justice (I named who I thought would be my last child Justice). I finished my degree when I was 27 because I chose to start a family very young in life. My middle son was about 6-7 years old by then. I had already been working and going to law school just didn't seem like the right fit at the time. Long story short I settled for an executive assistant job at DCCCD. It was around that time that my middle son was in 2nd grade and his teacher came to me at the beginning of the year and flat out told me "Amber, I don't know how he made it to 2nd grade. He can't do xxxxxx but it's amazing because he knows xxxxxx." I knew from the start that something was different, but his Kinder and 1st grade teacher didn't feel anything was different. And I TRUSTED them.

That was a young naive mistake. When this teacher told that she didn't know how he got to 2nd grade we all kicked it into high gear, me, her, and the principal as well as countless others. ALL at GPISD. He was diagnosed with High Functioning Autism. Because of his diagnosis he has received the BEST care and interventions at school and home to ensure that he is a successful student. Here he is 9 years later and is exceeding beyond most of his classmates and finishing college courses. That experience changed everything for me. I literally could not pursue my masters (which I was doing at that time) and knew I was being called to teach. Thankfully, while working at DCCCD and I was able to get my teaching certification for FREE! To this day I keep in contact with that teacher (she was also my daughter's teacher 2 years prior) and many of his previous teachers, counselors, phycologists, therapists, principals, diagnosticians, and countless others. They taught me how important it is to have a real relationship with parents and students, and I make it a priority to do that. I hope to one day move into special education particularly helping the older students transition into adulthood. 

I have no regrets in my decision and I'm thankful for whatever the reason it is that my son Jorel is Autistic because he's AMAZING. 

Shared by Amber Mendoza