HEADLINE: Teachers remember Esequiel

Esquiel was a secondyear welding student and one of the students who went
to district competition. He also volunteered with our Living History
Project at Fort Leaton State Historic Site, and was selected as a student
aide to work last fall's Longhorn cattle drive at Big Bend Ranch State
Park.

He was honest, reliable, hard working and cheerful. He was a ranch kid and
loved ranch life. He was proud of his goat herd and told me that he often
engaged in target practice with his antique .22 rifle while tending them.
His family was very important to him. His untimely death is a great loss
to our community.

Randall C. Cater
Industrial technology teacher

__________________________

Esequiel Hernandez Jr. was an always smiling student with a strong interest
in the history of his home. In August I assigned the first long paper of
the year. While most students wrote of childhood incidents, Esequiel chose
to write a brief history of how the Mexican Revolution of 191017 affected
the Big Bend region. When Esequiel was killed, he was just a few days away
from finishing a research paper on the history of the Texas Rangers' law
enforcement organization. These interests were tied in with Esequiel's
overall love of horses and his love of life spent on horseback. The last
photo I took of Esequiel for the yearbook is of him sitting astride a horse
with a big smile on his face.

Esequiel was a quiet and pleasant student who was always polite and
conscientious. His classmates and I will miss him very much.

Kevin Stahnke
English II teacher

__________________________

For two years, as a freshman and a sophomore, Esequiel Hernandez Jr. was
one of my students at Presidio High School. He was always polite and well
behaved. Although somewhat shy, he was a willing talker when addressed,
and I did enjoy talking to him. I know that he was well liked by his
fellow students and had many friends. I will miss him.

Larry Swinnea
Biology teacher

Esequiel was one of the nicest people I've ever had the honor to know. He
was a very fine young man, and he was the best library aide I had. He was
a very well behaved young man. He did whatever was asked of him without
complaint. He was very quiet and very likeable. I will miss him very
much.

Deanne Mejia
Librarian

__________________________

Esequiel Hernandez, Jr. was the bright spot in my seventhperiod art class.

Madelyn Farmer
Art teacher

__________________________

Esequiel was in one of my Spanish classes as well as the dance class. When
the dance class began in January, he was the only boy who registered for
the course. After the first week of class, Esequiel recruited five more
boys to join the 16 girls for dance. He was extremely punctual,
responsible and enthusiastic about the course. Since he had wanted to buy
un sombrero charro, the dance class is providing the hat for the casket as
a gift to Esequiel's family.

Christine Manriquez
Spanish and dance teacher

__________________________

Esequiel was a meek, humble boy. He was well liked by all who knew him.
This young man conducted himself in a manner that was above reproach. The
reaction to his death across the campus is indicative of the quality of
Esequiel's life. A sense of family can be observed throughout the student
body and staff as the coping process has begun.

Teloa Swinnea
Presidio High School, coprincipal