SPC recognizes Samarrae Salazar as 2025 Thomas Spencer Sr. Award recipient

LEVELLAND – Samarrae Salazar of Plainview has been named the 2025 recipient of South Plains College’s Thomas Spencer, Sr. Award for Outstanding Achievement. Salazar received the award during the Spring 2025 afternoon commencement ceremony on May 9 in the Texan Dome.

The award is presented annually to an outstanding student who demonstrates the qualities of leadership and service to the college and community. The late Dr. Thomas Spencer, Sr., played an important role in the formative years of SPC as its founding president. In conjunction with the college’s 40th anniversary, the Thomas Spencer Sr. Award was established in 1998.

Salazar, a teacher education major who started at SPC in Fall 2022, said it means a lot to receive the award. She said it is important for students to escape their comfort zone and realize they are capable of more than they think.

“I’m grateful to have gotten the opportunity to be nominated,” she said. “I really couldn’t have done it without my professors, friends and peers for believing in me.”

When it was time to consider higher education, Salazar said SPC was always at the forefront of her mind due to the benefits of a smaller college community. She started her college career as a business major but was encouraged to pursue teaching.

“Dr. Erika Warnick was one professor who pushed me to do bigger and greater things,” Salazar said. “Her encouragement was a big part in me changing my major.”

Salazar, who worked at a daycare after graduating from Plainview High School, developed a passion for working with kids and started taking classes to fulfill an Associate of Arts in Teaching for secondary education and early childhood to eighth grade. In addition to her studies, she has devoted her time to serving as a student leader in SPC Student Life, which gave her more opportunities to work with young kids who visited the campus.

“Phebe Dowels, director of Student Life, pushed me a lot this semester,” she said. “She believes in all her students.”

Salazar is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, a president’s and dean’s list honoree and a recipient of the James and Sycily Lattimore Family Scholarship and the Virginia Nelson Memorial Scholarship in Teacher Education. She is the daughter of Mario and Claudia Salazar and the oldest of four daughters.

Salazar will attend West Texas A&M University to pursue a bachelor’s degree in teacher education.

“I just want to work with kids,” she said regarding her goals. “I want to be as good a teacher as the ones that supported and pushed me.”