Our 2010-2011 TSPRA President, Steve Valdez, comes from Weslaco ISD. As a reflection of the organization’s diverse membership, he is the organization’s first president to come from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas with a background in TV News and from the electronic media component of our public relations association. He worked as a photojournalist in the Tucson and Phoenix markets before going back to his home in Texas as a general assignments reporter for the local CBS news affiliate.
Steve comes from a family of educators beginning with his father John Valdez, at the age of 74, still teaching at the local community college, and his mother Elizabeth, a retired County Head Start teacher of 29 years. He is a father of five children, Julio, 33, John, 32, Jessica, 25, Josh, 21 and Jed, 19, and two grand children, Noah 13, and Luxy, 7.
During Steve’s 15 years as a TSPRA member, he has proven to be a hard worker. He was taught the value of hard work early in life while he and his family of five brothers and sisters migrated to the north for summer work. His work ethic is evident in the success of his cable access education channel in Weslaco, were his team has won countless TSPRA awards in video, editing, reporting, and other electronic media categories.
His theme for the year has an interesting twist. Steve has taken what is typically known as the Honor Roll and has altered its meaning by making one simple change. He has exchanged the letter “l” in the word “roll” and replaced it with the letter “e,” Honor Role. As public relations professionals, Steve believes that it is our responsibility to perform our roles as educators with honor. He believes that honor is a contagious characteristic and looks forward to promoting individuals in our public schools that show honorable traits in their daily dealings with our Texas children.
