LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Quevette Terrell was nominated by Ashley Horner, a member of the community.

"To me, a LifeChanger inspires, creates change, encourages growth, and continues to grow themselves. Quevette Terrell has achieved all of those and more continuously over the years. She has shown consistent growth in multiple districts by creating several broad programs to better the lives of her students," said Horner.

Growing up on the South Side of San Antonio inspired Ms. Terrell to lead and teach students growing up in the same demographic she had experienced. She loves motivating and inspiring her students. For over 20 years, her students have done the same for her. Her personal goal is to help break down the barriers that her students see in their lives and to inspire and motivate them to be proactive within their community. Ms. Terrell said she approaches her teaching with energy and conviction to encourage students and colleagues.

“My passion and purpose is to be a positive influence who inspires my students to be proud of who they are and strive to do better every day, [and] to be a resource and support system to our faculty and staff,” said Terrell.

Ms. Terrell started as a physical education and health teacher at Austin Independent School District. Ms. Terrell quickly moved up to the director of the school’s physical education department. She enthusiastically motivated 700 students to embrace their physical and emotional health by engaging them in kinesthetic and health pedagogy standards. Ms. Terrell encouraged and empowered her students to lead others by creating and implementing leadership roles to promote self-confidence and grow their student voice. In addition to her outstanding efforts to better her students' health, she wanted to create even more growth opportunities in their lives.

In 2010, she created and implemented a campus-based student/teacher mentor program to serve economically disadvantaged students needing guidance. This weekly mentoring program is called F.O.R.C.E. – Focusing On Reaching Children Everywhere. Mentoring provides children with the caring, consistent presence of an adult friend, which research has shown to be a significant protective factor in building resilience among at-risk youth. Mentoring also benefits the mentor, including opportunities for personal growth, a deeper connection to your community, and a deep, caring relationship with a young person. Young people with mentors report setting higher educational goals and are more likely to attend college than those without mentors. High expectations and higher educational attainment are key factors in life success (Source). The program has expanded yearly. In 2015, F.O.R.C.E. included more than 45 teachers and staff members mentoring more than 150 students (Source).

Ms. Terrell was also the founder of the F.O.R.C.E. student dance program. The F.O.R.C.E. dance program started with her working on a talent show. She saw how excited and motivated the children were to perform. That got her thinking; she thought it would be great to continue this activity to get their kids out and encourage a sense of community. F.O.R.C.E. goes to many public events to perform, including public speaking. F.O.R.C.E. has received invitations to perform throughout the city, including at the state legislature and Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas.

“My relentless pursuit will be to inspire, support, and encourage my students to dream big,” Terrell said.

In 2015, Ms. Terrell was awarded Austin ISD’s first female African American Teacher of the Year! Instead of taking credit for this outstanding achievement, she gave all the props to her mother, Joyce Terrell. Her tear-jerking speech had the whole AISD Performing Arts Center in tears. Her mother always said, “Give me my flowers while I’m living," and that's what Ms. Terrell did. She honored her mother for this award because she was so inspiring.

She said, “I’m able to give and do what I do because you gave so much to me and my brother. I can never pay you back, but I can pay it forward. That’s what I’m doing and will continue to do. I will pay it forward every day of my life and inspire my students to pay it forward. We have a world to change; we are game changers.” Ms. Terrell meant every word, making her mother proud and inspiring an entire community.

Her many accomplishments within Austin ISD include being awarded the Teacher of Promise in 2003, founding the F.O.R.C.E. dance and mentoring programs, being selected as department head from 2007-2018, being awarded Austin I.S.D.’s district teacher of the year in 2015, being awarded distinguished teacher of the year in 2016 and being a featured presenter in many conferences.

In 2018, Ms. Terrell moved to Manor ISD as the Physical Education and Health Teacher and Team Leader. She continued her pursuit to enrich student’s lives. Ms. Terrell wanted to create more leadership opportunities within her school. She founded the L.I.T. Squad (Leaders in Training), a student leadership/mentoring program focused on student leadership development. Ms. Terrell created and implemented a Run Club for students to support their physical education and encourage healthy lifestyles. She also founded an Elementary Summer Sports Camp. Quevette Terrell was awarded Teacher of the Month in December 2018, January 2020 and December 2021. She was also awarded ShadowGlen Elementary’s Teacher of the Year in 2022.

On December 13th, 2023, all of the L.I.T. Squad was summoned to the gym in their signature yellow and blue vests to surprise Coach Terrell while she was teaching. Coach Terrell was awarded a grant for her L.I.T. Squad program from the Manor School House Board.

"It is clear that Quevette Terrell is more than a life changer. She is an inspiration, a motivator in her community, and a true beacon of light for her students. May we all do as Ms. Terrell and pay it forward by encouraging growth in others, said Horner.