El Paso educator named Finalist for 2016 HEB Excellence in Education Awards

An El Paso teacher has been named a finalist for a 2016 HEB Excellence in Education Award, spotlighting him as one of the best educators in the lone star state.

John Gable, a welding instructor at Thomas Jefferson High School in the El Paso Independent School District, was surprised during class with a $1,000 check for himself and a $1,000 check for his school Friday.

For the first time this year, the 15-year-old program began accepting applications statewide and named the first-ever El Paso finalist.

Gable is also a finalist for the Lifetime Achievement Award in the secondary category.

As a finalist in the Lifetime Achievement Secondary category, Gable has the opportunity to compete at the statewide level against four others in his category for a cash prize of $25,000 for himself and $25,000 for his school.

The recognition bought the teacher to tears.

“I’ve been here going on 25 years now. I’ve been elsewhere but this is the best place. It’s the kids. It’s the kids,” Gable told ABC-7. “They just have such a good heart about it and they laugh at my jokes. But you know, just the whole community, it’s a family here.”

All finalists are invited to San Antonio on May 12-13 to compete on a statewide level for larger cash prizes totaling $430,000.