HISD | Employee News: HISD’s news for district employees

In this week’s I am HISD, which features district students, graduates, employees, and other team members, Texas Supreme Court Justice (and Austin HS alumna) Eva Guzman talks about being appointed to the court by Governor Rick Perry on Oct. 8, 2009, the importance of mentors, and her passion for improving the lives of children.

You attended HISD’s Lantrip Elementary and Jackson Middle schools before graduating from Austin High School in 1979. How did your experiences in HISD contribute to your success?

Photo courtesy Judge Eva Guzman

I owe a debt of gratitude to the many wonderful teachers and counselors who provided guidance and mentorship to me during my years at HISD. The education I received was the first step on an educational path that would take me to places I did not even imagine as a kid. There are HISD teachers I fondly remember to this day, as they taught me not only academics but important life lessons.

Can you talk a little bit about mentors, whom I know you consider of vital importance?

I have seen firsthand the difference that a dedicated mentor can make in the lives of young people. Mentors provide guidance and counsel and often see potential the mentee cannot see. I owe much of my success to the invaluable advice I have received from many close friends and mentors. I had been practicing law for 10 years when several of my own mentors encouraged me to apply to be a judge on the Harris County Family District Court. There were about 20 applicants, and 11 days after my interview, I found out that I got the job! It was so exciting to go to Austin and be sworn in by then-Governor George W. Bush.

You are the first Hispanic female justice on the Texas Supreme Court. How did that come about, and how did you get started in the legal field?

While a business major at the University of Houston, I developed an interest in law, partly from an experience my parents had with an attorney and partly because of the popularity of TV shows like “LA Law,” which showed women on equal footing with men in the legal profession. I was appointed to the court by Governor Rick Perry in Oct. 2009 to fill a vacant seat and then won my seat in the November 2010 election. Previously, I was the first Hispanic woman to serve on Harris County’s 14^th Court of Appeals and a trial court judge on the Harris County Family District Court.

How does it feel to know that you are a role model to other women?

I hope that my service on the court in some manner inspires young people, especially young women, to pursue their dreams. But beyond that, I hope that my service serves to empower other women to achieve their highest potential. 

What advice would you give to other girls or women who dream of a career in law?

The best advice I can give is that young women interested in law doggedly pursue that interest and seek out mentors to help them navigate the LSAT and application process. And, given the dearth of participation at the highest level of courts by Latinas and the relatively low number of Latina lawyers in the U.S. – only about 1.3% of U.S. lawyers are Latina or slightly over 13,000 out of over 1,000,000 U.S. lawyers – I hope my own journey encourages more Latinas to enter the legal profession.

You’ve been involved with a number of organizations that help children. When did that start? And why is it important for children to perform community service?

My interest in community service was born out of the need I observed in my own community. In college, I was a member of a co-ed service organization that focused exclusively on community service. As a young lawyer, I also participated in organizations dedicated to community service. As a judge, I have served on the boards of many nonprofits.

Children should be engaged in their communities, because it teaches them important lessons and principles that will help shape their own paths. President Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” I think that is great advice for students. I believe that we are all capable of making a difference, no matter our own resources.

You have received many awards. Which ones are you most proud of?

When I was 15, I obtained a summer job through SER Jobs for Progress. This year, I received SER’s Community Leader Award. Walking through the doors of SER decades later and being honored by the organization was very meaningful. The award for me epitomizes the power of education and the impact of community.

What would you like your legacy to be?

I hope that I will be remembered as someone who made a difference in my community and improved the lives of others, especially children.

In this week’s I am HISD, which features district students, graduates, employees, and volunteers, Hartman Middle School Principal Geovanny Ponce talks about how an engineering degree led him to public education, the most important lesson he took away from Rice University’s entrepreneurship program, and the secret to his success as a campus leader.

You earned your first college degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Honduras, yet you’ve been in education for 18 years now. How did an interest in how things are put together lead you to where you are now? And did you ever actually work as an engineer?

Geovanny Ponce

Yes, I did. Back in Honduras, they have three different shifts of learning: morning, afternoon, and evening. So I was teaching at night while working as an engineer. My passion was always to teach others, to teach children. More than being a manager, I was also a teacher. I would be telling my team of engineers, “Okay, we need to move in this way,” or, “Okay, we need to fix the machines in this way.”

You graduated from Rice (University’s) Education Entrepreneurship Program in 2012. What was the most important thing you took away from that experience?

It’s a great program. It changed my life and the way I saw myself as a leader. At REEP, you have inspirational speakers who come and talk with you to prepare you for the reality of urban education and how to be effective leader. I still email them about once a month at least, and I work with other leaders around me to transfer that to them.

I’ve heard that a few of the standards you live by are that “school culture impacts school achievement” and you “inspect what I expect.” Can you expand on those a little bit?

Something that I tell my teachers and APs all the time is to welcome the children, to show that we care about them. We have about 1,436 students at any time, and my goal is to know every single child by name, so when I see them walking, I can call them by their own name. I know it’s hard, but we need to learn about our students because we don’t know what they’re going through, and our teachers have to, to effectively plan for their lessons.

I spend my whole day outside working the school, visiting classrooms. And every morning, I do a walk-though of the whole school, to make sure that doors are open, classrooms are clean, and teachers are ready for them. Every single day. I have very high standards. I expect my teachers to be on time and to be prepared. I review lesson plans with my administrative team and even model an effective lesson for teachers when needed.

You were named HISD’s Assistant Principal of the Year in 2012 and its New Secondary Principal of the Year in 2013. To what do you attribute your success?

I believe that I am child-centered. In the first place is children, in the second place is children, and in the third place is children. And if I have another place, it’s children. I interact with the children at Hartman the same way I do with my own. I also believe in education. And I believe an effective teacher can change a life. I truly believe that. And I think that’s why we have succeeded, even though we have a high number—about 380—overage students, 800 at-risk students, 25 percent LEP students, and 15 percent in Special Education.

In August, you were featured in an article on the George W. Bush Institute’s website about how you have transformed Hartman. What was it like to be recognized by someone other than HISD?

To be honest, it still hasn’t really clicked in my mind yet, because I’m so busy. I don’t like that many compliments. I just want to help my children. They don’t have anybody but us. In this community, there is lots of poverty. The only clean place they have is here. The only good food they have is here. The only solution is education, and I have that. So that’s my goal, to provide a high quality education to every single child who comes through that door. Every one.

Why is it so important to keep learning?

I come from a very poor country—a Third World country—and I was very poor. But education changed my life and now it’s my turn to pay it back. This is my mission. Not only to educate children to pass a test but to be ready for life. In fact, I just got into the Region IV Aspiring Superintendent and Education Leadership Academy. Not because I want to be one, but because it reaches a community, and the more people you can reach, the better. If it’s for the children, I will do it. Whatever it takes.