LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Miriam Casarez was nominated by her friend, Nereyda Sanchez-Garza.

"It has been an honor and a privilege to have become acquainted with such an inspiring individual," said Sanchez-Garza. "Throughout this year we have all been challenged with the unfortunate effects of the global pandemic...Mrs. Casarez worked tirelessly to provide love into every lesson she did. The genuine care and attention to detail she placed in the activities, lesson planning, and fun for the children made every day a blessing to be a part of her classroom. Students absolutely love attending Incarnate Word Academy because of such a tremendous individual who gives herself to teaching and keeps giving without reservations. We see how bright the students' spirit shone upon returning home from school and how eager they are to learn, especially in reading and writing. We are grateful and fortunate to have met Mrs. Casarez in such a critical year with COVID-19. It is truly a blessing because she gives and keeps giving."

Mrs. Casarez also made her school's 100+ days of school celebration a success, even though the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing. Everyone was six feet apart and wearing shields and masks. Accordingly, community members were able to come and present to the students at Incarnate Word Academy. Mrs. Casarez is now planning for next year's event because she has so much faith. She is a true leader for her school.

Mrs. Casarez has worked at Incarnate Word Academy for the past 15 years, and she has yet to miss school. She is a very devoted and dedicated teacher. She gets to school at 6:00 am and stays until 5:30 p.m. to prepare for the next day. That is dedication. She has always had a positive classroom environment that makes everyone want to go into her classroom and do the activities. Mrs. Casarez always has activities for students and parents, as well. She gets the parents to participate in so many activities. 

Even though she started with remote students, Mrs. Casarez made every student feel like they were with her face to face. She made sure that whatever activity she was teaching, the students had the manipulatives on hand at their homes. She made sure her lesson plans were done in advance so students had enough time to receive the supplies and manipulatives they needed for the next few weeks. Parents were thrilled to see that their children had the same items as what she was presenting remotely. That is what you call dedication, getting students motivated, and forgetting a little bit of what was going on with COVID-19.

"Here we are at the end of the school year, and we survived. It was all because of the dedication and devotion of Mrs. Casarez," said Sanchez-Garza. "She is a one-of-a-kind teacher! Overall, she is wonderful, lovable, joyful, happy, peaceful, and most of all, patient with her students, parents, faculty, and staff. Incarnate Word Academy is truly fortunate and blessed to have her as their kindergarten teacher."