Leading with heart: Donna ISD teacher wins H-E-B education award

Driven by her personal journey, passion for teaching and mission to empower students, Cindy Gonzalez, a third grade reading and writing teacher at J.P. LeNoir Elementary School at Donna ISD, was awarded the H-E-B Excellence in Education Rising Star Award among thousands of Texas educators.

“I received the award, among so many incredible educators in the state of Texas, I was immensely humbled and blessed,” Gonzalez said. “I can proudly stand now and say, ‘I am Cindy Gonzalez and I am your H-E-B Excellence in Education award winner, representing the state of Texas.’ It’s the most gratifying feeling ever. It’s not just the title, it’s a testament to a journey we take as educators. Those who lead with heart and purpose.”

The 2025 H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards ceremony was held in downtown Austin on Sunday with hundreds of educators in attendance.

The ceremony included $480,000 awarded to six teachers, two counselors, two principals, one early childhood facility, one public school board and two school districts. The program has awarded more than $14 million in funding to educators.

The Rising Star award is for promising teachers with fewer than 10 years of experience. The winners receive a $5,000 check for themselves and a $5,000 grant for their school.

“My district nominating me because they saw the skills and the heart that defined an excellent educator is, to me, an honor itself,” Gonzalez said.

The reading and writing teacher is on the verge of teaching for 10 years at the elementary school and said she feels at home there with a strong support system and good leadership.

“We’re all family here,” she said. “We help out each other and at the end, what matters is student success … I think that’s very difficult to find. So once you feel at home, you feel with your family, you feel this is where your heart is, and this is where mine is.”

Donna ISD teacher Cindy Gonzalez was awarded the H-E-B Excellence in Education Rising Star Award on Sunday, May 4, 2025. (Courtesy: H-E-B)

A La Joya ISD alumni, Gonzalez said her upbringing and struggles at home and being a bilingual learner lets her relate to her students that are in similar circumstances. She calls her greatest accomplishment being able to establish connections with those students and make them feel they are capable of great things.

“I know what it means to be evicted from an apartment because you don’t have enough money to pay the rent, what it is to share a meal with a large family, what it is to wear secondhand clothing,” she said with emotion. “I know how it is for others to make fun of you because you’re coming from Mexico, because you don’t know the language. And I think that is my strong power with my students. That I never want them to feel the way I felt. The way that little girl felt in that classroom. I want to empower them.”

With her family, friends and colleagues being proud of her accomplishment, Gonzalez said she was surprised Wednesday with a mini parade from her students.

This is the second year in a row for Donna ISD to receive an award from the program, with M. Rivas Primary Discovery Academy receiving the H-E-B Excellence in Education Early Childhood award.

The award goes to an early childhood program and resulted in the Donna ISD school receiving $25,000 for the win.

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