Teachers from four neighborhood Dallas ISD schools have been named finalists for the district’s teacher of the year award.

They are among 12 finalists from elementary, secondary and choice/magnet schools across the district.

Winners will be announced at the 2021-22 Dallas ISD Educator of the Year Awards on May 10.

The finalists from our neighborhood schools all teach at secondary and choice/magnet schools.

Photography by Danny Fulgencio

Anais Childress teaches International Baccalaureate history and African American studies at Hillcrest High School. Right now, she’s also an assistant principal intern.

Childress has bachelor’s degrees in history and secondary education from North Park University in Chicago. She’s working toward her master’s in urban educational leadership from Southern Methodist University and plans to graduate in May.

The educator has been teaching in urban school districts in Chicago and Dallas for five years, and she was part of DISD’s founding cohort offering African American studies in high schools.

“She believes that the least we can do within this current system of education is to maximize it to the advantage of the historically underserved,” according to Childress’ bio.

In her free time, Childress likes to spend time with her husband, travel and give back to her community.

Thomas Jefferson High School. Photography by Carly May.

Dutchess Gutierrez is a dance teacher at Thomas Jefferson High School. Her interest in dance started while she was on the MacArthur High School Cardettes Dance Team, where she was the first African-American captain as a senior.

Gutierrez earned a bachelor’s degree in dance with a minor in Spanish at Sam Houston State University. Then she returned to North Texas to pursue a career in dance. She also received her teaching certification through Texas Woman’s University.

For eight years, she has been at TJ, where she directs the Liberty Belles Dance/Drill Team and the Thomas Jefferson Dance Company. Gutierrez has also been the TEI campus expert, senior sponsor committee member and Summer Dance Intensive site lead.

Outside of school, she likes to cook, bake, do yoga, shop and spend time with her friends and family.

Aaronda Smith has taught at Dallas ISD schools for 16 years. She currently is a reading language arts honors teacher at George Bannerman Dealey Montessori Vanguard Academy.

Over the years, she has instructed middle- and high-school students on a variety of topics including reading, debate, strategies for success, literary genres and creative writing.

Smith has a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in education curriculum and instruction from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Other than teaching, Smith has been campus instructional team member, instructional coach, site-based decision-making team member, mentor teacher, English contact for school programs and Global Awareness head for implementation of campus global studies.

E.D. Walker Middle School. Photo by Jessica Turner.

Adriana Campos Low is a founding teacher at Prestonwood Montessori at E.D. Walker and a DISD alumna. She first became interested in bilingual education while a student at the School for the Talented and Gifted.

During her senior year, she wrote a thesis called “The Promise of the Dual Language Program in Dallas ISD.”

At Stanford University, she received a grant to conduct an independent research project on the social impact of dual-language programs and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in international relations and honors in education.

Campos Low then earned a master’s degree in education with bilingual authorization in Spanish from the Stanford Teacher Education Program in 2012. Then she started as a bilingual teacher in Redwood City, California.

In 2016, she started teaching at Stephen C. Foster Elementary School in Dallas.