It was a banner year for two UHD alumni who were elected to the Houston Independent School District's Board of Education.

Elizabeth Santos defeated Gretchen Himsl to win the District I seat being vacated by Anna Eastman. Santos attended HISD's Janowski and Herrera elementary schools, Burbank Middle School, and Sam Houston Math, Science and Technology Center. She graduated from UHD in 2008 with Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature. Presently, Santos is an English literature teacher at Houston's Northside High School.

"As a graduate of Herrera, Burbank, Sam Houston, a volunteer and a 10-year veteran teacher in the schools where my family and I graduated, and now an HISD School Board trustee, my heart has always been with our children and with the community," Santos said. "I am grateful for the relationships and driving force behind our campaign — our District I community."

Former teacher and an assistant principal at HISD's Bellaire Highe School Sergio Lira defeated Jesse Rodriguez for the Board's District III seat. In 1985, Lira graduated from UHD with a Bachelor of Science degree in purchasing & material management followed by a master's in educational management from University of Houston-Clear Lake and a Ph.D. in 2015 from University of Houston. Lira will fill the unexpired term of the late District III Trustee Manuel Rodríguez Jr., which runs through 2019.

"I look forward to working with Superintendent Carranza and the school board to ensure that we provide adequate resources to District III. We will work together as a team to do what is right for all students," said Lira.

Santos and Lira will be sworn in during the first 2018 Board of Education meeting on Thursday, Jan. 18 at 5 p.m. in the Manuel Rodríguez Board Auditorium at the Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center (4400 W. 18th St.).

The HISD Board of Education is comprised of nine trustees, each of whom serves a four-year term.