The Galveston County Daily News

My first memory was of my second-grade teacher. Mrs. Billie Faye Murray was wonderful but very hard on me.

She knew my family, and we were members of the same church. She always told me she had high expectations of me.

I remember her giving me pops because I had a habit of leaning back in my chair. Man, she should have been a tennis player!

We walked up Fourth Street North to the bus stops where 90 percent of all “school-aged drama” took place. Can you believe we sometimes walked from the south side all the way to Roosevelt and Blocker on 15th Avenue?

We’d make an occasional pit stop at Sonny James’ house to hang out. The most memorable moment was a fifth-grade teacher who saved my life by performing the Heimlich maneuver on me in front of the class after I swallowed a pen top.

On to Blocker, where I remember Mrs. Kay Jones, Mrs. Sylvia Garza, Mrs. Joyce DeRulle, Mrs. Winifred Gilmore and the famous choir teacher, Mr. Jerry Hassel, and many others. This is when I found out I was destined to be an entertainer. Lunchtime was great … they had a snack bar!

No more recess — just hanging out, playing wall-ball (that was dangerously fun) and break dancing.

That’s right. Next to the Lewis and Johnson twins, I was the best pop-locking, moonwalking demon to ever come through Blocker. On class day I was Michael Jackson. I had the jehri-curl, the zipper jacket, the white glove and all. Hey, in 1984 who didn’t?

The biggest rivalry here wasn’t Texas City vs. La Marque, it was Blocker vs. Fry.

I accepted the challenge of high school as an entering 13-year-old freshman. I played sports, but later discovered that sports would not be my forte. So I involved myself in choir, journalism and mainly academics.

I picked up the hobby of rapping and acquired the nickname “Education” because that’s what I valued and my buddies knew where to come for homework help.

The senior steering committee and other clubs taught me the value of involvement. Being involved helped me find my strengths, focus and set goals in life. Most teachers believed in me and my community family did too.

I remember a parent, Mrs. Patricia Selexman-Maxey, paid for my first SAT because I couldn’t afford it. My chemistry teacher, Mr. Pete Trippodo, who wore a suit every single day to work, thought he was teaching us how to turn a copper penny into gold. What he really taught me was that when I lit a fire underneath myself, I could be anything I wanted to be.

TCISD gave me a foundation that prepared me for life. It made involvement in my community, with families, children, professionals, easy for me.

That’s probably how I arrived at being elected to the city commission. I am a product of the city of Texas City and Texas City Independent School District.

How ironic it is that I now work for both.