Authors & Consultants Select Program Type Community Programs School Programs    Select Author or Consultant Ruben Perez of Houston, Texas has been in education since 1988. He taught general education and English as a Second Language (ESL) classes in K - 8. Ruben is currently an administrator with Cypress-Fairbanks I.S.D. He is a student advocate in the Department of Academic Achievement. The department focuses on district wide dropout intervention programs. The interventions vary from mentoring, peer & college tutoring, staff development, and after school dance organizations. He is also a director at one of the district's off-campus tutoring sites located in a Section Eight apartment complex. He started using the strategies recommended by aha! Process in 1996 and became passionate about the information and its effectiveness. Ruben is co-author of the article "Bullying Among Ninth Grade Hispanic Students" (2005). In 1998 he was awarded Wal-Mart's teacher of the year. He is the recipient of a State Proclamation, an honorary life time Parent Teacher Association (PTA) member, awarded spotlight teacher 2001-2002 and received the Outstanding Young American award. He was also a board member for Urban Harvest; a non-profit organization that supports school and community gardens. His motto is, "To be educated is to be liberated".