At D.M. “Dora” Sauceda Middle School in Donna, Texas, the students are organized into academic teams named after colleges. When Teach for America corps member Shayna Fernandez began teaching seventh-grade history there, it was only natural that her team would be Cardinal like her. Fernandez, bottom row left, grew up in Rio Grande Valley and was “determined to return to my community to be a role model.” She landed at a school where more than 90 percent of the children live below the poverty line. Her 97 Team Stanford students—including these Stanford Stars of the Week, recognized for their homework performance—wear their collegiate T-shirts each Thursday. Fernandez shares Stanford memories with her students along with lessons about how to get into and pay for college.
Courtesy Shayna Nicole Fernandez
