Lizbeth Alfaro

Lizbeth Alfaro was recognized on Aug. 24 as one of the nation’s most innovative educators with a 2004 ING Unsung Heroes award. She was one of 100 initial $2,000 winners, going on to win a third-place overall spot with her project, “Partners in Print — Learning Partners,” and an additional $5,000 prize. The ING Unsung Heroes awards program, now in its ninth year, recognizes the work of educators at the kindergarten through 12th grade level.

Alfaro teaches at Lyle Creek Elementary in Conover, N.C. Her project serves as an aide to Spanish-speaking students in kindergarten through second grade as they acquire English-speaking skills, providing children and parents with bilingual reading and math activities. The project also incorporates monthly family strategy meetings at school libraries, and uses parental involvement and hands-on activities to reinforce students’ classroom learning in reading and math.

“Lizbeth has truly dedicated herself to improving the lives of children in our county,” says Lyle Creek principal Leslie Barnette. “She teaches her students that education opens the doors to success. Lizbeth has made a huge influence on our school.”
 

Magda Yrizarry

Magda Yrizarry was recently named vice president of workplace culture and compliance at Verizon Communications. Yrizarry, who previously led Verizon’s public policy and strategic alliances group, will be responsible for designing strategies related to diversity, ethics, company culture, safety and environment.

Yrizarry joined Verizon in 1990 at New York Telephone and has since served in various capacities in community relations, market development and governmental affairs, and at the Verizon Foundation. She represents Verizon on the corporate advisory boards of the Cuban American National Council, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the National Council of La Raza and the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Says Marc Reed, executive vice president of human resources at Verizon, “Verizon is fortunate to have Magda, with her significant company and community experience, serve in this important position.”
 

Araceli Fernandez

Araceli Fernandez of San Antonio, Texas, has been named a national finalist in the Siemens Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science & Technology, the United States’ most prestigious high school science research competition. She and her team won a $10,000 scholarship for a project that contributes innovative conceptual ideas to graph theory, an area of mathematics with a wide range of applications in computer science, architecture, economics, encryption and networking. Fernandez is the first Hispanic finalist in the competition.

The 18-year-old is currently a first year student at the University of Texas at Austin. Over the summer she worked as a counselor at the Mathworks Honors Summer Math Camp at Texas State University, assisting young students in solving number theory proofs. A member of the Junior Engineering Technology Society in high school, Fernandez is studying for a career as a civil engineer.