The Socorro Independent School District Board of Trustees received a series of honors and district recognitions during its Jan. 23 meeting, including presentation of six $500 scholarships, awards for athletics and arts programs and recognition of trustees for School Board Recognition Month.

Daniel Escobar, chief communications officer for Socorro ISD, opened the segment announcing that January is School Board Recognition Month and summarizing the district’s recent accomplishments. Escobar said the district “led the region with the highest scores overall in the 2024 STAAR and EOC tests” and noted that “82% of SISD schools earned an A or B rating with 12 campuses earning an A rating from the Texas Education Agency.” He also reported two figures on the district’s Purple Star designations: 39 campuses designated for the 2024–25 school year and, separately, a total of 46 Purple Star schools across the district as of the announcement.

The district also highlighted fine arts and music awards. Escobar said Socorro ISD’s fine arts program received the district of distinction award from the Texas Art Education Association, and for the eighth consecutive year the district earned the Best Communities for Music Education award from the NAMM Foundation. The Pebble Hills High School Spartan Marching Band was singled out for several honors, including a performance at the Tournament of Roses parade on Jan. 1, 2025, and selection as the only marching band from the El Paso area to perform at the 2024 State Open Class marching band contest in San Antonio’s Alamodome.

The board recognized several individual staff achievements. A Socorro High School tennis coach, Mike Besamek, was honored for his induction into the Texas Tennis Coaches Association Hall of Fame in December; district remarks noted he is the second person from El Paso to receive that honor. The board also thanked Manuel Curola, an athletic trainer at El Dorado High School, for providing emergency care to a game official who showed symptoms of severe hypoglycemia. According to the meeting record, Curola checked the official’s blood sugar and administered treatment that restored the official’s condition without ambulance transport.

Veronique Hernandez, president of the Socorro American Federation of Teachers, presented six $500 Thrive Scholarships to 2024 recipients from SISD high schools. Hernandez said the scholarship program received “over 327 applications,” and the local AFT and its state partner worked with the district to award one scholarship per high school this year.

The board also accepted campus-donated tokens of appreciation for trustees and received student-made sea-glass art presentations from John Drugan School and other campus groups; students joined trustees and staff for photos, and the district noted high-resolution photos would be posted on the district website.

There were no formal votes or policy decisions in the recognition segment; the meeting proceeded through the scheduled recognitions and adjourned at 6:44 p.m.

Local parents, staff and students provided the presentations and photos during the meeting; no new district policies, budget actions or contract awards were made during this portion of the agenda.