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Travis Heights Elementary School PTA > Third Grade Teachers

Third Grade Teachers

Nicole Destas

My Email:

nicole.destasi@austinisd.org

About Me:

Mrs. DeStasi is excited to be returning to Travis Heights Elementary this year. Mrs. DeStasi began teaching in 2006.She loves reading, movies, traveling and spending time with her husband, 10 year-old son, 8 year-old daughter, Bullmastiff puppy, and two cats. She was born in Wisconsin, grew up in Massachusetts, and moved to Austin four years ago. She has traveled to nearly every state on the East side of the United States, Canada, Mexico and England. Mrs. DeStasi believes in student driven learning, and she is excited about guiding her students on a valuable and rewarding third grade journey

Kiki Esquivel

My Email:

kiki.esquivel@austinisd.org

About Me:

Ms. Esquivel joined the Travis Heights Elementary family as part of the third grade team in 2016. She is excited to spend another year with the kids! She has taught over 16 years between Austin ISD and Houston ISD. She believes that culture sharing is a powerful agent to understanding one another and has traveled Europe and North American. She loves learning new cuisine while traveling and sharing her fantastic dinners with family. Her daughter attends THES and Ms. Esquivel loves having her little Thunderbird with her. She enjoys the beach, long walks, cooking and finding new ways to bring books to life through the Creative Learning Initiative. She wants her learners to walk away prepared and
having been positively impacted by their third grade year experience.

 

William Myers

My Email:

william.myers@austinisd.org

About Me:

Mr. Myers joined our staff in 2014 and is looking forward to another year of seeing his students take risks to make their work a representation of themselves. Here at THES, he especially loves our willingness to work out of our comfort zones! Mr. Myers was born in the Philippines, and has traveled to Istanbul, Melbourne, Beijing, and his favorite, Barcelona. He attended school at the University of Texas in Austin, and he and his wife Katie have a dog, Penelope. One thing Mr. Myers wants his students and their families to know is that he believes fruitful educational experiences come out of a student’s willingness to take chances
and responsibility for the outcomes. He is excited about guiding each student and being a facilitator of that process!

 

Shannon Sanchez-Navarro

My Email:

shannon.sanchez-navarro@austinisd.org

About Me:

Mrs. Sanchez-Navarro is entering her 16th year of service in Austin ISD and 6th year at THES. During her time in AISD, she has taught Kindergarten, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, and has served both as a Reading Specialist and Bilingual/ESL Specialist. Mrs. Sanchez-Navarro completed her undergraduate studies at Texas Tech University and later pursued teaching certification at Texas State University. She holds a Master’s degree from Concordia University and in 2014 achieved National Board Certification in Literacy: Reading-Language Arts.

Mrs. Sanchez-Navarro spends her free time twirling around the dance floor as much as possible. She and her husband, Mike, can be found enjoying a variety of dance styles, including Cha-Cha, Two-Step, Waltz, and West Coast Swing at local dance studios almost every weekend. She also loves traveling to new places and learning about different cultures and languages. Most of all, though, she enjoys spending quality time with her three children, Joshua, Kailey, and Erin, as well as her “bonus” daughter, Katie, and her family.

The Dual Language Program and Growth Mindset Theory are her educational passions. She is enthusiastic about helping our 3rd Graders develop their skills in English and Spanish as well as understanding that their abilities depend more on hard work and dedication than raw talent. She hopes our students come home repeating her favorite phrase, “Practice makes BETTER!” (Don’t be surprised if they come home dancing a little Cha-Cha, too!

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