As volunteers decked out with Houston Texans swag walked into Wendy Martinez-Morales’ third-grade class at C. Martinez Elementary School on Tuesday, students suspected they were in for a big surprise.
But, when Texans starting quarterback Deshaun Watson popped into their virtual classroom, the students – and Martinez-Morales – could hardly contain their excitement.
“We are huge Texans fans! I never thought anything like this would happen,” she said. “It is really amazing that Mr. Watson took some time out of his busy schedule to meet with us.”
Watson, along with Texans legend Cecil Shorts III, were on hand to announce that Martinez-Morales and her class of 25 students were the latest winners of the Texans and Reliant “Attend to Win” initiative, which is designed to add incentive and inspiration for students to log in, learn, lead, and succeed in the virtual and hybrid classroom setting.
“I wanted to stop by and say how proud we all are of you,” Watson said to the class. “Keep up the good work and continue to log in, learn, lead and succeed.”
Martinez-Morales’ class has notched near perfect attendance for the last six weeks of school. And for her efforts, the first-year teacher received a signed Deshaun Watson jersey. Third-grader Jennifer Almanza, who has yet to miss a day of school, was named the student of the week and received an autographed Deshaun Watson football.
“When they called my name, I was nervous, excited and happy,” she said. “I can’t wait to get home and show my Dad the football.”
The entire class received all kinds of Texans prizes, including mini footballs, T-shirts and cell phone chargers, courtesy of Reliant. Principal Alejandro Lopez was on hand to accept a $2,500 technology grant from the Houston Texans and Reliant.
“This serves as motivation because I always tell my student good things will happen to those who do good,” he said. “These scholars have been attending every single solitary day and this is their reward, and that is motivation not only to them but to other scholars in the Clemente Martinez learning community.”
The Attend to Win initiative is a part of the Youth Education Partnership between the Houston Texans and Reliant. The learn more about the initiative, click here.