Intro to Mariachi got some guest students and more than 100 middle schoolers, camera crew people and reporters cram into what they call “Mariachi Disneyland.”
Keith Ballard, a music teacher at Southwest Middle School, didn’t know why all the cameras were in his classroom, but it didn’t take long to connect the chords.
Maddie Fennell, acting executive director of the National Teachers Hall of Fame, stepped to the front of the class.
“Keith Ballard has been selected as one of this year's five inductees into the National Teachers Hall of Fame,” she said.
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Ballard was chosen among millions of other teachers across the country. He’s been teaching at Southwest Middle since 1998 and said he’ll fight to the end to stay in his classroom.
He said when he graduated college, next to no one would teach at a school like Southwest Middle: a disadvantaged school, four miles from the border, where he said the average student has about a third-grade reading level.
Ballard said regardless, Southwest Middle is where he belongs.
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“The cool thing working with these kids is if you just give them a little bit of love, and you work hard, and you show some compassion, you can do some great things,” he said.
Students consider his plaque a win for them too. Eighth grader Camila Hernandez was excited to surprise her teacher.
“Many students agree with me. Music and personal life and all that is a lot. But I think even if it isn't well balanced, he always makes me feel excited about coming to school," Hernandez said.
Ballard said this award is a sweet note to go out on, as he plans to retire at the end of this year.
