Lamar’s administrator, Raul Rivera, has been through a multitude of journeys as a teacher. His goals as an educator are to share his passion for educating and helping students in different aspects of their lives.
“The whole point of being an educator is to make sure my students reach their full potential, no matter the circumstance,” Rivera said.
After graduating college, Rivera began teaching in his home country, Puerto Rico, from 2008 to 2012. During that time, Rivera noticed many obstacles that were getting in the way of his ultimate goal.
“The foundation for my decision to enter the education industry was my dad, who was a professor,” Rivera said.
“My dad’s career in academics paved the way for me to eventually become a teacher and share my passion for teaching with students.”
Due to challenges, Rivera took a break from teaching and served in the military from 2012-2016 and then after serving he decided to take up teaching again. He moved to America and got lucky at Lamar and soon restarted his teaching career.
“Sadly, in Puerto Rico, the government education wasn’t valued as much as I would’ve liked which led to less funding and the most frustrating part was not being able to get the resources I needed to help my students,” Rivera said.
Throughout the course of his career, Rivera has helped numerous students with both academic and personal issues, guiding them in the right direction so they can reach their potential to the fullest extent possible.
“I always say, you’re gonna have 364 bad days, but it’s that one good day that makes it all worth it,” Rivera said.
Rivera is passionate about being an educator and is always helping students.
“I want to see Lamar continue with these amazing programs that it has to offer because I want it to become a place where it could help Houston students have more opportunities,” Rivera said.
Overall, Mr. Rivera has played a major role in the Lamar community and has assisted many students in a variety of ways throughout his career.
“I love being a part of students’ lives and I love being a part of their journey, that’s what I think being an educator is all about – helping these kids to become the best version of themselves they could become,” Rivera said.
