Abel Fonseca, II, is a lifelong San Benito resident and community advocate who has served local students and families for more than two decades. Through his “Heart of San Benito” series, he shares stories that celebrate the people who make the Resaca City special. He can be reached at abelfonsecaii@hotmail.com.
There are moments in life when you know your heart is urging you to take a different path, even though every part of you longs to stay.
After much prayer, reflection, and sleepless nights, I have made one of the hardest decisions of my life.
After 22 years of service to the students and families of San Benito CISD—including 18 years as an After School Coordinator—it is time to begin a new chapter in my life.
Leaving San Benito is not simply leaving a job; it is leaving a place that became my second home and the thousands of children whose smiles greeted me every afternoon. It is leaving behind parents who trusted me with what mattered most.
It is leaving behind coworkers who became family. Most of all, it is leaving behind a community that helped shape the man I am today.
When I first walked through the doors of Fred Booth Elementary under Manuel Cruz’s leadership, I never imagined the journey God planned for me.
What began as an opportunity to serve children became a lifelong mission to create experiences that inspire students to dream bigger than they ever thought possible.
Over the next 22 years, I had the privilege of serving at Fred Booth Elementary, Ed Downs Elementary, Rangerville Elementary, Frank Roberts Elementary, Miller Jordan Middle School, Collegiate Academy, and the Darrell Hester Juvenile Detention Center.
Each campus left its mark on my life.
People often ask to identify my greatest accomplishment. It isn’t a trophy. It isn’t an award. It isn’t recognition. It isn’t even starting new programs. My greatest accomplishment has been watching children grow into remarkable adults.
Today, former students are teaching in San Benito CISD classrooms. Others now lead after-school programs. Many are parents who have trusted me to care for their children. There is no greater reward than seeing life come full circle.
When I look back on these years, I don’t remember the long hours or the late nights. I remember the moments. I remember Christmas parades when parents, grandparents, students, and staff spent evenings painting floats together.
We earned several first- and second-place awards, but the real prize was never the trophy, it was watching families laugh together as they made memories that still bring smiles today.
I remember introducing the district’s first boxing program at Fred Booth Elementary. Students learned far more than how to throw a punch. They learned discipline, confidence, perseverance, respect, and responsibility.
Those young boxers represented San Benito across the Rio Grande Valley and even traveled to Kansas City, Kansas, to compete in the World Championships for two consecutive years.
I remember hearing the beat of a drum line, built from nothing more than trash cans, drumsticks, and imagination, under the direction of Arnold Castillo.
I remember watching students gain confidence through dance and breakdancing with Tammy Rae Garza.
I remember ballroom dancers at Frank Roberts Elementary taking their first tentative steps under Stephanie Vega’s guidance.
I remember Jiu-Jitsu students training under Ervin Martinez, and every student who competed earned a championship belt—not because they were undefeated, but because they refused to give up.
I remember father-daughter dances that filled Miller Jordan Middle School with smiles, thanks to Otila Silva’s outstanding work.
I remember robotics teams coding alongside Colt Smith. I remember esports competitions organized by Jacob Martinez. I remember the BBQ Team with Mr. Jose Villarreal. I remember culinary classes with Dr. Stacey Gonzales. I remember chess tournaments that brought our students to the National Championships in Florida.
I remember DJ Blue teaching students how music could be a creative outlet. I remember gardening, entrepreneurship with Otila Silva, aka Tila, cosmetology, STEM, science, math enrichment, volleyball, basketball, dance, softball, and countless other opportunities that helped children discover talents they never knew they had.
Every program had one purpose: to help a child discover what they were capable of becoming.
One of my favorite events was our family fishing tournament, which took place in the early 2000s. The night before the event, we stocked the resaca with fish.
The next morning, families from San Benito, Port Isabel, Progreso, Raymondville, and surrounding communities lined the banks. It wasn’t about catching fish.
It was about bringing families together. That was always the mission. Family engagement was never just another requirement.
It was the heartbeat of everything we did. Whether families came to bowling nights, movie nights, boxing classes, ESL classes, Zumba, step aerobics, Christmas float decorating, school plays, or simply stayed after practice to help clean the cafeteria before breakfast the next morning, they reminded me that children succeed when schools and families stand together.
Some moments stay with you forever. One Christmas, after a school play at Frank Roberts Elementary, we helped surprise a little girl by hiding her father—an Army soldier—inside a giant wrapped present onstage.
She had no idea he had returned home. I had contacted my brother Tyler Fonseca, who is in the Army, and asked him how we could bring someone home to surprise his daughter. He gave me the information, and I took it from there.
When she opened that gift and ran into her father’s arms, there wasn’t a dry eye in the auditorium.
Moments like that remind you why education is so much more than academics. It is about people. It is about hope. It is about love.
Another chapter that profoundly changed my life came when I worked at the Darrell Hester Juvenile Detention Center.
Many people saw troubled teenagers. I saw young people waiting for someone to believe in them.
Through the greenhouse program, they learned responsibility, teamwork, patience, and the value of hard work. More importantly, they learned that their future need not be defined by their past.
None of these programs was created alone. Every success belonged to an incredible team of educators, instructors, administrators, volunteers, parents, and community partners who believed in children.
I was blessed to work alongside remarkable people whose passion inspired me every day.
Manuel Cruz, Dr. Stacey Gonzales, Arnold Castillo, Tammy Rae Garza, Stephanie Vega, Ervin Martinez, DJ Blue, Otila Silva, Jacob Martinez, Colt Smith, Mr. Jose Villarreal, Yvonne Rodriguez, Scarlette Hernandez, Linda Molina, Carlos Lainez, Kandra Turner, Jo Ann Fernandez, Crystal Jacquez, Albert Sanchez, Fidel Gonzales, Michelle Ruelas, Cynthia Rystead, Terry Padilla, and countless others poured their hearts into these programs.
Together, we accomplished what none of us could have achieved alone.
Our community partners also became part of our family. King Kuts Barber Shop. SB Wings. Vicky’s Restaurant. Danny B’s Charter Boat. Louie’s Backyard. Pirate’s Landing Fishing Pier & Restaurant. Creasey’s Bowling Alley, the 4-H Youth Development Program (Cameron County AgriLife Extension Services and Expanded Nutrition Program), Texas Parks and Wildlife, Community In Schools, MJ Screen Printing, The City of San Benito, The Constable’s Office, The San Benito News, The Rotary Club (for our gardening club), countless local businesses, volunteers, and parents –every one of them invested in the children.
Thank you for believing in our vision.
There is one chapter of my story I can never tell without emotion. When I was diagnosed with cancer and later underwent open-heart surgery, I honestly did not know if I would ever return to doing what I loved, but San Benito never stopped believing in me.
You prayed. You organized fundraisers. You sent messages. You checked on my family. You lifted us up when we were too weak to stand on our own. You reminded me I was never fighting alone.
No amount of words can ever fully express what your kindness meant to me. You didn’t simply support me. You carried me.
As I prepare to begin this next chapter, I leave with far more gratitude than sadness.
Thank you to every superintendent, principal, teacher, counselor, secretary, custodian, cafeteria worker, bus driver, volunteer, parent, community partner, and friend who welcomed me into your schools and trusted me over these past 22 years.
Most importantly, thank you to every student. You gave my career meaning. You made every early morning and every late evening worth it.
If I helped even one child believe in themselves, then every minute was worthwhile.
San Benito has given me more than a career, it gave me purpose. It gave me friendships that will last a lifetime. It gave me memories I will cherish forever. It gave my family hope when we needed it most. It made me a better educator, a better leader, a better husband, a better father, and a better man.
Although my career is taking me in a different direction, my heart will always remain here. Because once you’ve been loved by this community, a part of you never leaves.
Once a Greyhound, always a Greyhound.
May God continue to bless San Benito CISD, its students, families, staff, and this extraordinary community.
Thank you, San Benito, for believing in me, for believing in our children, and for changing my life.
With heartfelt gratitude,
Abel Fonseca II
(Follow the footsteps that God created for you and walk on water).