CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — It was a special surprise for one CCISD teacher who has helped students for the past six years at Mary Grett Transition Center.
Brooke Reyna doesn't teach just any typical class, she focuses on providing students with special needs an effective way to live life.
The Corpus Christi Hooks and Reliant teamed up for their annual All Star Educators Program to provide teachers across the Coastal Bend with $1,500 for school supplies.
For the Hooks it’s extremely important to be able to give back to the community and help impact the future of the students and the teachers.
“It means a lot to us because teachers are so important," Victoria Heartman, the community outreach coordinator for the Hooks said. "They are literally shaping our future and we are always looking for ways to help out people in our community and they deserve it."
On Wednesday Reyna received an unexpected surprise from Rusty the Hook - she was nominated and got chosen for the grant.
“It’s huge I think our students are overlooked a lot and people just think that after they graduate that that’s it for them but they have a whole future after they graduate," Reyna said.
The Mary Grett Transition Center is unique, as its a school for students with disabilities that have graduated high school and work on life skills and vocational skills.
"We try to take them on the bus to H-E-B, we take them to volunteer, to help get them work skills so that they can get jobs after they graduate from here," she said.
Alongside her duties as a teacher, Reyna teaches one of the most important lessons any one can teach. She teaches more than just what's inside a textbook — life skills —and she loves every second of it.
“It feels awesome, I like to do everything for them, my life revolves around them so this is just going to help me to do that,” Reyna said.
She wasn't expecting this grant, but will now be able to give her student more life lessons for the future. She plans on building her sensory class so the students could have a zone to be able to focus and enjoy.
