A Round Rock ISD educator has been selected as a finalist in the 2026 H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards program.
Azucena Overman, a math teacher at Cedar Ridge High School, was named a finalist in the Secondary Leadership category for the 2026 awards. As a finalist, Overman received $1,000 for herself and an additional $1,000 for her campus from H-E-B on Thursday, Jan. 15. The Leadership Category honors teachers with 10 to 20 years in the classroom.
Cedar Ridge Principal, Dr. Shawn Miller, says the award is well-deserved.
“She is a mentor to anyone who needs one,” he said. “The greatest thing about her is her passion for her content. She gets excited about teaching her kids, and really goes above and beyond.”
Overman said she is still processing the recognition.
“I still haven’t processed it,” she said. “You fill out the application and think, ‘What?’ There are so many excellent teachers out there. There are lots of Teachers of the Year on every campus. We just don’t always get to see everything happening in each classroom.”
Overman has been teaching math with Round Rock ISD since 2012 and began her career teaching sixth graders at Taylor Middle School in 2009.
“Middle school is a wonderful training ground for any teacher,” she said. “If you can survive middle school, you can pretty much survive anywhere.”
Throughout her career, Overman has taught a range of courses, including geometry and statistics. She said her passion lies in helping students develop strong critical-thinking skills.
“My job is not to teach students what to think. It’s to teach them how to think,” she said. “There’s so much information and disinformation out there now. Students need a way to evaluate whether something actually makes sense.”
That dedication often extends well beyond the school day, according to her husband, Randy Overman.
“She’s not afraid to work long hours,” he said. “She has an open-door policy for students. Tutoring before school, staying late after school, whatever they need. She puts a lot of time into her students and into things like math club because it really matters to her.”
That same commitment to her students shapes Overman’s work outside the classroom, particularly through academic competitions and student organizations.
“One of my big philosophies is that students can do almost anything,” she said. “What they look like doesn’t have to match what they can do. Students in poor neighborhoods can be just as smart as students in rich neighborhoods.”
She said academic competitions give students access to advanced concepts they may not otherwise encounter.
“Number sense is my big passion. It’s mental math and number theory,” Overman said. “You get exposed to it, and you see the magic underneath the mathematics.”
Overman currently coaches number sense and has helped lead students to district-level success.
“Even if you don’t place or win, you learn so much,” she said. “The learning matters more than the bling.”
Overman said she values the strong sense of care and community among educators at Cedar Ridge.
“I love teaching at Cedar Ridge,” she said. “Our math department is excellent, and the teachers here truly care about the students. If you ask the students, they’ll tell you the same thing.”
Finalists in the 2026 H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards will advance to a final round of judging to determine winners in each category. Teachers are evaluated on their passion and commitment to the profession, innovation and creativity in the classroom, professional growth and development, and firsthand accounts from campus administrators, staff, parents, and community members. Winners will be announced May 3.