ETA Welcomes a New Face

By Samuel Rocha | Staff Writer |

Mr. Domingo Martinez in his room. Photo by Samuel Rocha

On August 19, 2019, ETA welcomed a new staff member in Domingo Martinez from the departure of Dr. Albert Chang. Martinez is a first-year teacher at the Engineering Technology Academy (ETA) coming from John F. Kennedy High School, East Central, and John Jay Science and Engineering Academy. He’s taught for seven years in the San Antonio area. He is a homegrown teacher from San Antonio.

“I grew up all over inner 410 area… I lived in Westside, Eastside, Southside, all inside 410 so I’m a product of the San Antonio Independent School District,” Martinez said.

He went to University of Texas at Austin for four and a half years getting his aerospace engineering degree. After he got his bachelor’s in aerospace, he went into the education field.

“I just went straight into education,” Martinez said. “I had a pathway when I was in my undergraduate degree, I was in an organization and one of the organization’s goals was to mentor young men and women who are like myself coming from low income areas.”

He now teaches three courses, Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM), Principles of Engineering, and AC/DC Electronics which have around 25 students per class. One of his students, Coby Bell, has him in his second period AC/DC Electronics.

“He is very helpful around the classroom, he makes sure everyone is on the same page, and gives one-on-one help if needed,” Bell said. “If I wasn’t a senior, I would definitely take one of his classes again.”

Mr. Richard Saldana, long-time ETA teacher, said his new neighbor will do well.

“He’s got a lot of energy in his class, he is up to date with a lot of science topics, and is excited about working in the ETA program,” Saldana said. “ I think he’s going to do really well… he’s taught a lot of math and science classes before and is thrilled to be here teaching engineering. ”

Martinez has other talents besides his smarts in engineering; he also enjoys the aspect of art.

“ I have pretty good artistic skills, I paint and draw,” he said.  “But I enjoy all aspects of education like reading, writing, drawing, and robotics.”