A campus known for its award-winning health science field programs is getting a new name. The Laredo Independent School District Board of Trustees voted last week to name the Early College High School at Raymond and Tirza Martin High School in honor of the late Esther G. Buckley.
Buckley was born and raised in Laredo, Texas. At the age of 15, she graduated as Salutatorian of the Martin High School Class of 1963. She received an Associates of Arts degree from Laredo Junior College and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, Cum Laude, with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Mathematics. She received a Master of Science with Honors in Secondary Education from Texas A&M University and was working towards a doctorate in multicultural education and information technology at Texas A&M University at College Station.
Laredo ISD Board of Trustees President Juan Ramirez, Jr., said, “Naming the building in memory of Mrs. Buckley ensures that her legacy of brilliant instruction will be acknowledged in the hearts of Laredo students for generations to come. She provided an exceptional education and guidance for students, including my daughter, Karina, for nearly 45 years. Her teaching and influence will last for many, many years.”
Buckley’s daughter, Trina Bratton said, “From the bottom of my heart and my siblings, we are truly grateful to the Laredo ISD Board of Trustees for this recognition. We appreciate your wanting to recognize and honor her contributions to the district, city. and nation. If she could thank you, I know she would do so humbly and deeply.”
Buckley started her college years planning to be a physician. However, a year and a half into medical school, the calling of generations of educators before her ignited her passion to help one student at a time. She was employed with the Laredo Independent School District beginning in 1970 on. Buckley taught at L.J. Christen Middle School, J.W. Nixon High School Annex, Dr. Leonides Gonzalez Cigarroa High School, and Raymond and Tirza Martin High School.
She passionately loved being a teacher. Buckley loved to hear students tell her how they had gone on to be doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, bakers, nurses, or paramedics and it fueled her passion to motivate her students to succeed; not give up and drop out of school, but contribute to their community and society in general. A deeply religious person, Mrs. Buckley strongly believed her purpose in life was to teach with intensity and strength because it was God's will. Hispanic herself, she constantly looked for better ways for Hispanic students to learn, she was constantly learning and looking for or creating new ways to teach. She truly believed that all students could learn and succeed because barriers do not exist when you work hard to be the best you can be.
While serving as an educator, Mrs. Buckley also believed she could help others by becoming politically active and honoring her civic responsibilities. She believed that education and politics were tightly intertwined, she felt Republican values matched her religious philosophies and upbringing and the people she met whether Republican, Democrat, Independent or undecided - inspired her further. She spoke at state and national conventions, participated in and chaired senatorial causes and district meetings and served many years as Webb County Republican Chair.
Governor William P. Clements appointed her to many commissions and boards, including the Governor's Commission on Women, and the Texas Hispanic Advisory Practices and Ethics Commission. In 1983 she was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. She served as a Civil Rights Commissioner for nine years. She was also appointed to state level advisory committees both for the development of the Texas Educational Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), which is the current state curriculum, and was appointed to the State Board for Educators Certification (SBEC) advisory committee for teacher certification.
Locally, she was a member of several organizations such as the Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE) beginning in 1985 and serving in local and regional capacities. She was also a member of the Delta Kappa Gamma, and Phi Delta Kappa and served as its president from 2003-2006.
In 1995, Buckley was appointed by Mayor Saul Ramirez as a charter member of the Laredo Commission for Women. Esther served on the Webb County Commission on Higher Education whose efforts were to bring a four-year university to Laredo and she was a board member on the Battered Women's Shelter. Over the years she assisted with countless local voting recounts and other aspects of the electoral process. She also raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants for Laredo ISD
A phenomenal woman, Esther received numerous recognitions at the federal, state, and local level. In 1984, she was named one of six outstanding Hispanic educators by the Department of Education and was presented at the Rose Garden at the White House. She had the occasion to speak with President George W. Bush when he visited Dr. Leo Cigarroa High School.
In 1989 she was chosen as the Texas High School Physics Teacher at the 100th Year Celebration of the American Physical Society. In 2010, Buckley was a finalist for the annual HEB "Best in Texas Education" award, part of its Excellence in Education Awards. She was also honored that year as a recipient of the "One Class at a Time" award presented by KGNS-TV and the Laredo Federal Credit Union.
"From my earliest memories as a child, I have always been a teacher. I remember experiences in the second grade where I used to help other students with their assignments when they did not understand their lessons,” Buckley once said. “I have been teaching for more than 40 years. I was asked this year if I would retire so I could get an honor bestowed on me by the school board for which I work. I turned it down because I feel that God's work for me lies in helping students to graduate from high school not in vainglory. As long as I can, I will be useful to my community and its advancement."
Mrs. Buckley, and her husband, the later Elmer Buckley, had seven children and 12 grandchildren.
“Our entire family is humbled and deeply appreciative for this extraordinary honor bestowed on our mother by the Laredo ISD school board and the superintendent,” Bratton continued. “This recognition is not only an acknowledgment of her contributions to her country, Laredo ISD, and her community, but a beautiful testament to the values she championed throughout her life: dedication to education, community service, civil rights, and the unwavering belief in the potential of every student. We are incredibly proud and profoundly grateful that her name will forever be associated with a place of learning and growth that will shape countless lives for generations to come.”
A ceremony will be held in the near future at the campus which is located at Raymond and Tirza Martin High School in Central Laredo. The Esther G. Buckley ECHS is nestled between the Bill Batey Jr., Gym and the Col. Roberto Flores Gym.
For more information, please log on to www.laredoisd.org or call the LISD Office of Communications at 956-273-1730.