top of page
chalkboard-wallpaper-luxury-chalkboard-b

Educators of the pathway provide students with a variety of insight of conservation and agriculture. As permaculturalist, students will gain a deep understanding of sustainable design in which both wildlife and humans coexist and benefit from the landscape. Checkout our team of educators and their diverse backgrounds! 

EDUCATOR PROFILES

1.png

David Salazar

IMG_2907.JPG

Career and Technical Education

Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources 

 

Mr. David Salazar guides learning experiences that generate into solutions for our most pressing challenges in Houston. “I believe students who are immersed in real-world problems will go on to discover real-world solutions in their communities. The journey will empower the students to be an original thinker for an uncertain world.”

 

Salazar is teaching Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources at Furr High School under the Career and Technical Education Department for the Houston Independent School District (HISD). Salazar earned a BFA in May 2012 as a Linda and David Schele scholar of Mesoamerican Art and Writing from The University of Texas at Austin. Salazar is a Breakthrough Austin Teacher alumni, active lead at Herman Brown Park Fruit Orchard and Community Garden and member of the Permaculture Institute of North America - Urban Harvest Permaculture Guild. 

 

His first two years were teaching and coaching in his alma mater, Stephen F. Austin High School - Magnet for Teaching Professions where he graduated in 2006 as The Most Outstanding Senior from the Migrant Education Program and later recognized as the First Year Teacher of the Year 2012-2013 and Teacher of The Year for Furr High School 2014-2015. In 2016 he was awarded along with the school, the USDA, “Abraham Lincoln Award for Diversity, Inclusion, and Outreach.” He also earned the The US Forest Service, Southern Region, “Making A Difference Award,” and the 2017 Texas Agrilife Extension “Vice Chancellor's Award in Excellence.”

 

In the first three years as a formal educator, Salazar collaboratively established The Houston East End Greenbelt, a student and community led grassroots organization (facilitated by student leaders known as Green Ambassadors) to transform the East End of Houston from a food desert into a food forest by linking feeder pattern schools through a corridor of edibles and pollinator gardens through the promotion of permaculture design, conservation education and environmental justice. 

 

Ironically, at six years of age, he gained his first years of professional experience by working in the agriculture sector along his grandparents across the Midwest and the South. They would migrate through the seasons to find labor in field or nurseries. Texas is now his home. David Salazar cares deeply about the conservation of oceans, marine life, and Texas landscapes.

Rachel Velasquez

FullSizeR.jpg

Career and Technical Education 

Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources

Ms. V is a well-rounded individual with many skills, hobbies, passions, and interests. Teaching has been the endeavor that combines a large portion of these into one setting, adding meaning and value to her life. Her skills include a fundamental understanding of various interest such as accounting, business management, culinary arts to gardening, construction, nature conservation, writing, and youth mentorship. “I am blessed to find myself within a loving community combining all of my talents, skills, hobbies, passions, and interests, enabling me to lead by example and serve others so that they may reach their own fullest potentials.”

 

Ms. V has worn many hats in her short lifetime; she earned a Bachelor’s in Business Management from the University of Houston, became a Texas Realtor in 2015, a Certified Permaculture Designer in 2016, a Volunteer in Public Schools from 2015-2017 (working exclusively with Furr High School), a member and subsequent crew leader for the Student Conservation Association from 2016-2017, and finally, a teacher at Furr High School.  She has been able to engage a number of students through Zumba Fitness, urban gardening, camping and career experiences on the field. She also was part of the them who established the community garden during the summer of its construction.

Throughout all of these endeavors, it has become evident that everything is connected, and the future of the planet depends on cultivating positive connections and having a fundamental understanding of the many facets that make up life. By starting small and following what drives us, humanity can begin to redefine, renovate, rehabilitate, restore, revive and renew all that has been damaged starting with the seed, the learner, the youth.

Manuel Reyes

unnamed.jpg

Career and Technical Education

Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources 

Reyes was born and raised in Guanajuato, Mexico and moved to the City of Houston in 2004. He started becoming interested in the outdoors during high school and developed a passion for the environment throughout the years. He graduated with a degree in Biological and Physical Sciences with a minor in Chemistry and a concentration in Urban Education from the University of Houston Downtown. Reyes will continue to serve his community and enrich youth education in urban schools for the Career and Technical Education Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources Career Pathway at Furr High School. 

 

“I am excited to implement project based learning in the classroom and engage my students with real world problems that can be solved through peer collaboration.” Reyes was also able to work in various projects with the Student Conservation Association and other agencies dealing with erosion control, invasive species removal, historic ruin restoration, water quality monitoring, native plant restoration, prairie and coastal restoration, loggerhead sea turtle conservation and wilderness education. Projects took place in New Mexico, New Jersey, Georgia, Cumberland Island, New Hampshire, Washington and Houston Texas.

 

“I enjoy walking through parks and making observations everyday. Working outdoors and with my community allowed me to find my calling as an educator and provided me with opportunities to learn more about both. He enjoys eating different types of food and meeting new people with different interest. My favorite movies involve the actor “Cantiflas” and documentaries of the world and its organisms. I participate with the community in bicycling around Houston neighborhoods, rock climbing, gardening and creating visual art.

Juan

Juan Elizondo

IMG_2889.JPG

Partnerships Coordinator 

Career and Technical Education 

Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources

Juan Elizondo is a born and raised Tejano-Mexican native from Houston, Texas. He is currently pursuing sustainability and environmental justice projects with students at Furr High School as a Career and Technical Educator and Teacher Specialist teaching classes in Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources with a mindset of climate change adaptation and community grassroots organizing. As Department Lead, he is a certified permaculture designer and organic specialist and serves as partnership coordinator. He studied at The University of Texas at Austin and attended Austin High School in Houston. Elizondo seeks partners and opportunities for students to gain career and hands-on experiences with local, state and federal agencies in which allows for Furr High School’s XQ Vision to become the “central green hub of the community,” in which empowers students to tackle environmental injustices. With the team of students, volunteers and “Green Ambassadors,” together they create food forests and pollinator habitats city-wide in our very own underserved communities throughout Houston and outreaching to diverse audiences. The department has been recognized nationally by the United States Department of Agriculture and have worked globally spreading the message of conservation and sustainable solutions through green action. Yearly, Elizondo and College Green Ambassadors and Alumni of Furr High School volunteer in El Salvador, planting fruit trees and working alongside The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation. Transcending student agency not just locally but globally, connecting students with worldwide programming. Elizondo enjoys taking students camping outdoors, and connecting with nature through observation and study of wildlife. His inspiration is Ms. Frizzle, from The Magic School Bus, he hopes to offer such adventures outside the classroom as students engage in the great outdoors and the programs the department has to offer. Elizondo spends his spare time working on projects in the city or on his family land in Tenaha, Texas. Enjoys traveling and has been to El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico and lived a short time in Kosovo and India. Serving as an educator for his community is a fulfilling privilege for him, “with students and community anything is possible, Sí se puede, echale ganas!” 

David
Rachel
Manuel
IMG_2907.JPG
David Salazar
Instructional Specialist
IMG_5284 2.jpg
Juan Elizondo
Partnership Coordinator
FullSizeR.jpg
Rachel Velasquez
Educator
unnamed.jpg
Manuel Reyes
Educator
bottom of page