TITLE: Congratulating Kacy Debney of Samuel Clemens High School in Schertz on her selection as the 2025 Environmental Educator of the Year by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

SUMMARY: Congratulating Kacy Debney of Samuel Clemens High School in Schertz on her selection as the 2025 Environmental Educator of the Year by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

FULL TEXT:
WHEREAS, Kacy Debney, an Advanced Placement environmental science and chemistry teacher at Samuel Clemens High School in Schertz, has been named the 2025 Environmental Educator of the Year by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality; and WHEREAS, Each year, the TCEQ honors achievements in environmental preservation and protection through its Texas Environmental Excellence Awards program, and the Environmental Educator of the Year award recognizes a distinguished educator who has highlighted environmental education; and WHEREAS, For the past 16 years, Ms. Debney has dedicated her career to shaping the next generation of environmental stewards; as the AP environmental science teacher at Clemens High, she teaches all aspects of the curriculum, from biodiversity and population dynamics to the effects of energy and water use, and she has worked tirelessly to provide her students with hands-on, real-world experiences through a variety of projects such as designing sustainable homes, cleaning local parks, and drafting mock legislation addressing environmental challenges; and WHEREAS, In addition to her work in the classroom, Ms. Debney oversees a number of other initiatives and projects that showcase her willingness to go above and beyond; she takes her students on a field trip each spring to gather water and soil samples as part of an ongoing, yearslong study of a local park, allowing them the opportunity to use professional-quality equipment to collect and analyze data; she also supervised the research of four students tasked with formulating a plan to help school districts become more sustainable, and under her able guidance, the group won the 2024 Siemens Texas STEM Pathways Challenge; moreover, she was awarded a Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City Independent School District education grant last fall for her initiative, Training Future Loraxes, which involves Clemens High students working collaboratively alongside students from Rose Garden Elementary School to conduct an environmental survey; and WHEREAS, By encouraging her students and other members of the community to preserve and protect their environment, Kacy Debney is helping to ensure the continued health and vitality of the Lone Star State's natural resources, and she is indeed deserving of this prestigious accolade; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 89th Texas Legislature hereby congratulate Kacy Debney on her selection as the 2025 Environmental Educator of the Year by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and extend to her sincere best wishes for continued success with her important work; and, be it further RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be prepared for Ms. Debney as an expression of high regard by the Texas House of Representatives. Lujan Speaker of the House I certify that H.R. No. 1026 was adopted by the House on May 23, 2025, by a non-record vote. Chief Clerk of the House