Meet Ms. Juarez: Garriga Law Firm teacher giveaway winner

ODESSA, Texas (KOSA) - The first day of school is right around the corner.

Teachers have been hard at work preparing their classrooms for weeks now.

That’s why The Garriga Law Firm and CBS7 have teamed up to give four lucky Teachers $250 gift cards to ease the burden of buying supplies.

One of those lucky Teachers was Janet Juarez, a 3rd-grade Bilingual Teacher at Sam Houston Elementary in Odessa.

The National Retail Federation predicts that this will be the most expensive back-to-school shopping season ever, leading to teachers having to make some tough choices.

“You just kind of start saying, ‘what is more important as far as what I would need versus what I would want,” said Janet Juarez.

“I’m feeling excited, nervous, anxious, a little bit nervous. it’s normal to feel nervous even as a teacher,” Juarez explained.

Heading into her third year as a Teacher, Ms. Juarez is working non-stop to get her classroom ready before students walk through the door.

“They spend eight hours a day here, so I just want to make sure they feel comfortable here and they enjoy being here and have a neat classroom,” said Juarez.

From decorations to presentations, she is steadfast in her work.

Her parents sent us this video of Ms. Juarez with boxes of papers surrounding her, giving us a glimpse of just how hard educators are working before summer break is even over.

But for Juarez, her goal is to see her students succeed.

“It makes it worthwhile everything I’m doing,” said Juarez.

With only days left before students arrive on their first day of school, Ms. Juarez has been able to utilize that $250 gift card from the Garriga Law Firm.

“The Garriga Law Firm, thank you so much for this gift card. I really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. I had no idea I would get this, so it’s a blessing in disguise. thank you so much for this,” said Juarez.

A little bit of weight off her shoulders ahead of the new school year.

“Thank you, Garriga Law Firm and CBS7 for the giveaway!”

Copyright 2023 KOSA. All rights reserved.