Silver Unicorn

Donna Lemley

New Braunfels High School teacher Donna Lemley is a shining example of what a Silver Unicorn Recipient exemplifies. She works tirelessly for the students and parents of NBISD, and has taught at both the elementary and secondary levels during the past 26 years.

Her years of service and experience include helping the most vulnerable and challenging students.

According to several of her nominators, she consistently demonstrates that she is an expert at giving these students a sense of purpose, determination, and focus.  Not only does she provide them resources, but she helped create these resources so students had the opportunity to see the world around them. 

As the teacher in charge of the credit recovery lab at NBHS, Lemley sets high expectations for productivity and behavior, and the kids cooperate because they know she cares about them.

According to her daughter, Lemley sees people for who they are. Loves them entirely, and becomes the missing puzzle piece they need to solve their problems.  She even recalls one time when she was in middle school that her mother brought home a student’s laundry to wash because “you can’t learn well in dirty clothes.”

Simply stated, she makes her colleagues and all the students whose lives she touches better.

Blanca Sanchez

Born and raised in New Braunfels as a life-long Unicorn, Blanca Sanchez  began her work for NBISD in 2012 as a member of the custodial staff at New Braunfels High School. She later transferred to the Education Center building, where she worked until retirement in 2018 - the same year her husband passed.
 
In 2019, she began volunteering at Maria’s Closet, which serves our district's most at-need student population and their families.
 
Despite never receiving a dime of compensation, or expecting it, Sanchez washes, irons or steams, and organizes all clothing donations, as well other items donated to Maria's Closet.

When visiting Maria's Closet, students and families are equipped with whatever is needed to meet their needs. This simple act of kindness helps keep them in school and assists them in finding success in the classroom - all due to her countless time and effort. She truly defines what it means to have a servant's heart.
 
For the past four years, she has volunteered hundreds of hours in this capacity. It is difficult to find someone so selfless to serve others in the way she serves the students and families of NBISD.