Conexión Learning

Our Staff

Mary S. Black, Ed.D.

Dr. Mary S. Black is the president of Conexión Learning, and a former faculty member in the College of Education at The University of Texas at Austin. Her graduate degrees are from Harvard University in Human Development and Psychology, and her B.A. is from The University of Texas at San Antonio.

Her interest in Latino education goes back to her early teaching career in San Antonio where she was confronted with teaching the Battle of the Alamo to a classroom of Mexican American youngsters. “My sense of history was challenged to teach about the Tejano heroes of the Alamo and make my students proud of this heritage. It was a wonderful educational experience for me.”

She taught English as a Second Language in Japan for four years after leaving her home town of Denton, Texas as a young woman. “I was a minority in Japan in every sense. Suddenly I couldn’t read or even speak the language. It was a struggle to practice words with my dictionary and work up my courage everyday just to buy food and survive,” she remembers. “The only things I recognized at first were coca-cola and eggs! These experiences taught me more than I could have ever imagined.”

Since then she has applied these lessons to her interests in Hispanic education. She is a well-known curriculum developer and presenter on the impact of culture on education across the nation. For a free bilingual curriculum unit created by Dr. Black for secondary social studies classes on 20th century Mexican American farm life, with Spanish by Dr. Haydée Rodriguez, click here. To view her recent journal articles, click here.

Rubén Garza, Ph.D.

Dr. Garza is a nationally known consultant on increasing student motivation and achievement. He currently teaches at Texas State University where he coaches new teachers in effective classroom strategies.

He taught high school Spanish for 20 years in Austin (Texas) I.S.D. and was honored with the Hispanic Heritage Award for founding the popular Ballet Folklorico student dance group. He was also A.I.S.D. Teacher of the Year, Texas Foreign Language Association Spanish Teacher of the Year, and a finalist for the Walt Disney Nationwide Teacher of the Year Award. He is a past president of the Texas Foreign Language Association.

Dr. Garza grew up in Goliad, Texas, and received his B.A. from Southwest Texas State University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin. He is a director of Conexión Learning.

Julio Noboa, Ph.D.

Dr. Noboa grew up in a predominately Hispanic neighborhood in Chicago, and holds a B.A. from the University of Illinois at Chicago and an M.A. from Northwestern University in educational anthropology. He was involved in multicultural teaching and youth development for many years in Illinois with the Latino Institute, Chicago Urban Skills Institute, and Association House of Chicago. He is one of the directors of Conexión Learning.

Upon moving to San Antonio, Texas, he was project manager for Communities-in-Schools for Edgewood I.S.D, and later instructor in Mexican American cultural history at the Tomas Rivera Center at Trinity University. His interest in teacher preparation lead him become an instructor and clinical supervisor for student teachers in San Antonio from the University of Northern Iowa.

Since receiving his doctorate from The University of Texas at Austin, he is currently Assistant Professor of Education with The University of Texas at Brownsville. Look for his new book, “Leaving Latinos Out: The Teaching of U.S. History in Texas,” as well as his column in El Diario La Estrella, a Spanish-language daily in Dallas-Ft. Worth.

Elsa Duarte-Noboa, M.Ed.

Elsa Noboa has over 20 years experience as an elementary bilingual teacher in Illinois and Texas and a secondary social studies teacher in San Antonio. She holds a B.A. from Mundelein College at Loyola University and an M. Ed. from The University of Texas at San Antonio. She is currently a lecturer at The University of Texas at Brownsville and a director of Conexión Learning.

She has been her school’s Teacher of the Year and is in Who’s Who Among American Teachers. She sponsored her school’s chapter of Future Teachers of America and served as a mentor for the school’s Young Women’s Organization. She is a frequent speaker on Hispanic education issues.

Jennifer Krueger, M.A

Jennifer Krueger serves as a consultant to Conexión Learning on issues of stress and resilience in students and teachers. Previously she taught Latino students in ESL and regular elementary classrooms for seven years. She is currently engaged in doctoral study on mental health promotion at The University of Texas at Austin, and brings extensive knowledge of stress and coping in Latino students to Conexión programs.

Haydée Marie Rodriguez, Ph.D.

Dr. Rodriguez received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in Curriculum & Instruction with specializations in Bilingual Education, English as a Second Language (ESL), and Anthropology. She teaches Reading Methods, Language Arts Methods, English as a Second Language (ESL) Methods and coordinates the bilingual education professional development sequence cohorts at UT. Her current work focuses on bilingual education teacher preparation and the induction and mentorship of novice bilingual education teachers. She is a consultant for Conexión Learning on ESL and bilingual issues. For a free bilingual curriculum unit on Mexican American farm life with Spanish by Dr. Rodriguez, click here.

Stella G. Mata, M.Ed.

Stella Mata is currently a bilingual reading specialist at the elementary level, and has over 20 years of bilingual teaching experience. She serves as a mentor teacher for the University of Texas at Austin in their teacher preparation program. Her many awards include Teacher of the Year at the school level twice, Who’s Who Among American Teachers, Wal-Mart Foundation Teacher of the Year, JC Penny Golden Rule Education Award and others.

Leticia Peña-Wilk, M.Ed.

Leti Peña-Wilk currently teaches bilingual third grade. She has served as a Reading Academy trainer and mentor teacher for a variety of programs. She is an education consultant for the University of Texas at Austin in reading assessment, classroom management and balanced literacy. She holds Texas certification in English as a Second Language and Bilingual Education, and recently completed her master’s degree from UT.