Evelyn Flores is part of a family whose roots are firmly established in Spring Branch ISD.
All four of the girls in the family attended SBISD schools from prekindergarten at Tiger Trail, to Terrace Elementary, to Northbrook Middle School. Three of the girls in her family, including Evelyn, have now graduated from Northbrook High School, and the fourth is not far behind.
“My whole life has been here. To me Spring Branch is a community where I was allowed to blossom into who I want to become,” said Evelyn, who was Valedictorian of the Class of 2022.
Her journey was not without challenges, including online learning during her junior year because of COVID. But the teachers at NHS and her close friends helped her overcome obstacles and traverse through valleys.
A new friend
“I always talk about my junior year of high school because of how difficult it was for my mental health,” said Flores. “Ms. Haugneland [Dual Enrollment Pre-Calculus teacher], was always a sunshine and super passionate about teaching and that, to me, meant a lot. I had always loved school and learning, but during the months of my junior year, I began to lose parts of myself and even contemplated my life. Ms. Haugneland recognized the signs and was there. By the end of the year, I finished with an A in her class and had made a new friend.”
Encouraged her curiosity
Flores recounts what ignited her strong feelings about the importance of women’s education in developing countries. “Ms. Castillo showed a documentary about the caste system in India and how the genocide targeted women,” said Flores. “It made me so upset that I told Ms. Castillo, and she supported my ideas. It was a catalyst to my essays about how educating women can make or break societies. It also led to my participation in the school’s TEDx Talk my senior year where I was allowed the stage to express my ideas and research.”
Dig deeper
Another pivotal moment in Flores’ time at NHS came during her freshman year when she was assigned to write a poem in her English class. After several drafts her teacher, Ms. Avila, challenged Evelyn to “dig deeper,” which led to her feeling brave enough to write about the absence of her biological father. “Ms. Avila pulled me to the side and told me that she thought I was really brave for sharing my story,” said Flores. “She used the word resilient to describe me, and that word made me feel seen and heard. I felt relieved to have someone validate everything I had gone through and had felt for so long.”
Community of encouragement
Other notable supporters who contributed to Flores’ success at NHS are Ms. Howard, Ms. Nasef, Ms. Castillo, Ms. Kretschmar, her soccer teammates, and close friends she made at school. One friend, Brian Garay, was an extraordinary comrade who was a positive influence and steady presence at her side during her lowest moments. He also “let me shine at my best,” said Flores.
She experienced other ingredients to ‘success’ at NHS when she and her classmates worked hard at fundraising enough money for prom, cooking soup for elders in the neighborhood during the freeze of 2021, participating in the EMERGE program, joining National Honor Society and more.
“Success was all the laughs and all the moments we made someone else smile,” said Flores. “Success was not regretting a single thing because life is a beautiful thing. We took the risks, we made bad decisions, we lost friends and gained some, but at the end of the day we learned.”
Flores is now majoring in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, on a full-ride scholarship! “If I hadn’t gone to NHS, I wouldn't have been as academically successful and had all the opportunities that came because of it,” said Flores.
“I am where I am today because I went to NHS.”