Posted on March 29, 2021 by Christopher Reichert


Laredo may not be far from San Antonio, but for UTSA alum Marina Lopez, the journey is measured in more than miles. Lopez was named Teacher of the Year at Krueger Middle School in San Antonio, where she teaches 6 th and 7 th grade math and science. She was also named teacher of the month and earned a PTA honorary life membership award.

In 2017, Lopez graduated from UTSA with a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies in Math and Science, with a concentration in 4 th -8 th grade math and science. She remained at school to earn her master’s in Bicultural Bilingual Studies with a concentration in education, which Lopez completed in 2019. After completing her master’s, she accepted a job at Krueger Middle school, where she has taught for the last two years.

“It’s only been two years, but it feels like a home,” she said.

Her colleagues’ choice to award her Teacher of the Year points to the respect she has earned during those two years.

“It was surprising and it felt amazing when I was hearing teachers that have so much more experience – ten, fifteen, twenty years experience – telling me that I’m doing a good job on my second year teaching,” Lopez said. “I feel like I am supposed to be here, I am supposed to be working with these kids in this school…I did find my right track at the end.”

“I feel like I am supposed to be here, I am supposed to be working with these kids in this school…I did find my right track at the end.”

She also shares some of the credit with her team in Krueger ’s science department saying, “I couldn’t do it really without them.”

Despite these accolades, Lopez’s goal was never to win an award.

“My aim wasn’t to be nominated for teacher of the year, it was just, ‘Okay what’s good for everybody, what is good for my kids, what is good for the teachers, how can I help?’” she said.

You would never know based on Lopez’s achievements that her career did not begin in education. In fact, when she first transferred to UTSA, she had her sights set on a very different goal: a degree in biology, with an eye towards a medical track. But from the beginning, it wasn’t quite the right fit. Lopez said she experienced a general sense of pessimism in her intro courses.

“I always loved the subject of science and math…I wanted to pursue it and I wanted to continue that.”

Lopez spent her first year as a biology major before deciding to make a change and pursue a degree in education.

“When I joined education, it was a lot more positive, it was a lot of ‘you can do this',’” Lopez said. “They gave you those resources you needed.”

But even then, Lopez’s path was not always clear. Originally wanting to teach elementary students, it took time and experience for her to find her niche.

“My mom has a daycare…so I grew up with little kids and helping them and teaching them colors and numbers and all of that,” she said. “It wasn’t until I had to be an actual teacher in the classroom that I was like, ‘Okay, it’s very different when you’re actually the teacher.’ There’s a lot more classroom management, there’s a lot more relationship building.”

“It wasn’t until I had to be an actual teacher in the classroom that I was like, ‘Okay, it’s very different when you’re actually the teacher.’ There’s a lot more classroom management, there’s a lot more relationship building.”

And it was this relational aspect that finally brought her around to teaching middle school students, a group with which she describes herself as falling in love with.

“It was just natural – I guess their behavior, their sarcasm and all of that – it just worked for me and continues to work for me,” she said. “They’re just little people learning how to be adults.”    

 The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it new challenges for Lopez and teachers around the country.  

“It’s definitely harder,” she said. “It’s a different take on how we handle having a relationship with our students, making sure that even though they are online they can still talk to us, we can still build that relationship.”

Through it all, Lopez can rely on her teacher education at UTSA.

“A lot of the skills I’ve gotten from UTSA and the organizations I’ve been a part of have definitely influenced how I’m managing doing all of this, especially right now during a pandemic,” she said.

She’s especially grateful for the organizational and communication skills she learned, as well as knowing how to find available resources, and she cites adaptability as an essential trait to preparing for a still-uncertain fall semester.

“I’ve learned kind of what works for me in this hybrid world that we’re teaching in,” Lopez said. “Hopefully it gets a little easier.” 

Honored and heartened by the acceptance she has been shown at Krueger , Lopez says teachers should not be afraid to teach middle school students.

“I feel like that’s very much a scary stage that not a lot of teachers want to do…explore more into different grade levels and be yourself.” 

For more information on Krueger Middle school visit:  https://www.facebook.com/KruegerNEISD/ .

- Christopher Reichert

— Christopher Reichert