The Original Black’s BBQ Teacher of the Week
Keitha Hernandez
Grade you teach and at which school: Librarian at Lockhart Junior High School.
Hometown: Lockhart.
Where did you graduate? “I graduated from Lockhart High School and went to Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State). I graduated with a BA in Elementary Education and continued on to earn a Master’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. After discovering my love for children’s literature over the years, I received my School Librarian Certification from Texas A&M Commerce.
“I have been in education for 27 years. I began my time with LISD at Plum Creek Elementary and taught there for 17 years as a 3rd and 4th grade teacher, GT Teacher, and Reading Specialist. I then moved to Lockhart Junior High School as the first Instructional Coach for the district in 2014. After 5 years as an IC, I made my final move to Librarian in 2019.”
Favorite thing(s) about teaching at Lockhart ISD: “I appreciate that I have been able to hold many different positions and that I have been encouraged to try new things in each of them. I also enjoy getting to know the students of our community and getting to watch them grow and graduate from LHS. It’s fun to see what all they have accomplished here and where they will go/what they will do next.”
How would your friends describe you? “My friends say I am thoughtful, caring, loyal, smart, and driven.”
What values are important to you? “Loyalty, dependability, and respect are all principles that I value in myself and in those I surround myself with.”
Talents? “My passion is reading, and teaching others to love reading…helping students realize that choosing the right book is the key to finding their love for reading.”
Favorite Books: “This is an impossible question for a librarian, but I will say the first book that captured my imagination and hooked me into reading was The Giver. Since then I have been reading books voraciously and each year I compete with my students in our Million Word reading challenge.”
Favorite Music: “I listen to a little bit of everything. But most often, I am listening to a podcast or an audio book.”
Hobbies: “Listening to podcasts, reading books, spending time with our pets, and completing puzzles are the things I enjoy doing any spare moment I get.”
What inspires you? “Spending time with my family and close friends, getting outside and experiencing all God has created in nature, and helping others in times of need are all things that inspire me.”
Family: “I live with my husband, Joe, and our daughter, Jaivyn. We have 3 dogs (Tank, Bear, and Rosie Rue), 4 barn cats (Smokey, Sylvester, Corona, and Oddrey), and 13 chickens. We love to spend time outside and can often be found gathered under an old oak tree with family in the evenings.”
