Local woman helps to empower local students

Cindy Aguirre-Herrera

(Seguin) – Being named the 2023 Guadalupe County Distinguished Young Woman is more than just earning a title. It also comes with the responsibility of serving others –– at least that’s been the case for Seguin High School Junior Taelor Jo Krueger. Since Krueger won the contest better known in this area as Junior Miss this past March, she has been making an impact by rolling out the official platform for the program “Be Your Best Self.”

The “Be Your Best Self,” nationwide AJM effort works to reinforce self-esteem and personal responsibility in young people.

Krueger says the outreach efforts’ recipients were a group of fifth graders at Koennecke Elementary School.

“The experience was great. The fifth graders ended up loving it. I actually got invited by the ACE coordinator here at Koennecke Elementary School to present other things such as being your best self which she loved the presentation. She was there during all of it, and she enjoyed seeing the kids have fun while still loving how to present themselves in a positive way,” said Krueger.

Krueger says the kids spent their time investing in what makes them great.

“I just talked to them about how important it was to be your best self and they really enjoyed some interactive activities that we got to do, and we ended up making a poster board here for Koennecke Elementary School where it showed how each kid viewed themselves in a positive way. So, we had each student write a way that they viewed themselves positively,” said Krueger.

Krueger says she was thankful to have shared this outreach program with the kids. She says their appreciation for the message was priceless.

“I personally enjoyed it a lot. I found it that it was great to actually see the kids incorporating something that is not only in my Junior Miss but it’s worldwide through all Junior Miss and so I found it really rewarding and a great way to be able to see that even though it was a small little presentation, the kids were able to learn something from it and that they came out with a better positive outlook upon themselves and those around them,” said Krueger. “All of the fifth graders, when I asked them about their feedback afterwards, they said that they all loved it and they told the ACE coordinator would I be doing something like that again. So, they were super ecstatic about it.”

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Woman, continued.

Krueger says she especially thanks Denali Diaz, the ACE coordinator at Koennecke, for helping coordinate the efforts.

Distinguished Young Women is a national non-profit organization providing scholarships to high school senior girls. The program is designed to give young women the opportunity and support to succeed before, during, and after college.

Donations, continued.

She says, with summer around the corner. She expects that even more families will lean on them for assistance.

“Look around and see how many people live in Seguin now. You can’t find anything, any place so just the idea that we have grown in population and people came here looking for better and maybe they are doing better but food is so expensive and you talk about food and gas – what are you going to do, how are you going to get to work if you don’t have the gas to get to work? We are midway point for people not just that they depend on us all the time but just something between the paycheck or the instance that caused them to have to come here. So, if they could put their pride aside, we can ask the community to get them supported for a while,” said Lee.

Lee says while many individuals and families are working, the cupboard is also important to those who need a little more help and whose needs are often required on a more regular basis.

“We are begging for what we need to help feed our community, so the kids don’t go to school hungry, or the kids don’t go without, or even our elderly or people who have mental issues don’t suffer because we are very important to a lot of people as far as being able to come here once a month,” said Lee. “And let’s face the fact at this point, when I came here in 1988, I don’t think there was anybody homeless. We have homeless people now and we do help them because they are not going to take milk. They are not going to take eggs because where are they going to take it? Where are they going to refrigerate it? They don’t take refrigerated meat. Where are they going to put it? So, they are allowed actually to come every day but the things that they get are so minor and we try to supply them with Spam, Vienna sausages, regular water, sports water, a soda occasionally, chips. Everything I give them is not necessarily but at least they are eating,” said Lee. Donations can be dropped off at the Christian Cupboard Mondays through Thursdays from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Amazon orders are also welcomed and can be delivered directly to the cupboard. The cupboard is located at 516 N. Camp St. A drop-off box for donations is also available on the north side of the building. The box is available 24/7.

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