Irene Gardea is a Speech and Debate teacher at Horizon High School in the outskirts of El Paso, Texas. This is her 16th year in education and her 4th year at Horizon, a public school in the Clint School District. She is also the Speech and Debate Coach and the team brought home its 5th consecutive 1st place team award this year. The team also went to the National Debate Tournament this summer, where some placed in the top 60 in their events.

Irene was nominated by her students and recognized as a National High School Speech and Debate Coach of the Year in 2020, and in 2024 received the Peter Piper Pizza Best Teacher of the Year award, again after being nominated by a student. Irene also leads the Horizon HS program for students who want to be teachers, a 4-year program called the Scorpion Teaching Academy. The program began three years ago with 8 in the first and second cohorts, and has grown to 25 joining for the third cohort this year. 

In this episode Irene discusses the challenges and rewards of teaching, both as a profession and for her personally. She shares her perspective on the opportunities that result from “doing extra"; the “way of the teacher"; the importance of “establishing your why"; and the benefits that can come with allowing ourselves to be pushed out of our comfort zones. Through sharing what inspires her to keep coming back to teaching year after year, we get a sense of how she inspires her students and why they nominate her for well-deserved recognition.