A local teacher was honored in Tuesday's H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards.
Veterans Memorial AP Biology teacher Porfirio Zamora Jr. was awarded a $10,000 check, and also earned $10,000 toward his school for being named the Leadership category's Secondary-level Teacher of the Year. Leadership nominees have teachers between 10 and 20 years.
"Every day is a different day, every kid is a different kid, every class is a different class and there's no other job like that where you come in and every single day is unique," he said. "You don't get that in just about any other profession. There's nothing like it."
Zamora also coaches JV soccer the Robotics club and the Science Fair.
Veterans Memorial principal Scott Walker said the school is "blessed" to have Zamora.
"Students, year after year, will come by and just talk about the amazing experience they had in his classroom," Walker said. "How he takes a content that can be very difficult like AP Biology and he really brings it to life in the classroom through hands-on experiences, and just the way he delivers his instruction makes him, just, an amazing teacher."
H-E-B's Excellence in Education Awards honor eight educators, two school districts, en early childhood agency and a public school board.
This year, celebrities such as Eva Longoria Baston, Matthew McConaghey, former San Antonio Spurs center Matt Bonner and jewelry maker Kenrdra Scott made appearances at the event which coincides with Teacher Appreciation Week.
Zamora, who is in his 20th year in the classroom, said one of his focuses is to help his students become more curious about their surroundings.
"It's really important to me that I produce the kind of students that look around and they don't just life go by, that they take time to see the details in things and analyze things a little bit more," he said. "Maybe pursue those questions a little bit outside of my classroom. "
