Academy of Creative Education (ACE) founder and long-time volunteer Arline Patterson was named a Hero for Children from the State Board of Education (SBOE) for District 5. Patterson has been an active volunteer at ACE since its beginning in 1991.  She was also recognized for being co-chair of the Event and Tours Committee for the 18th Annual National Dropout Prevention Network Conference, an annual student and staff sponsor for the North East Educational Foundation Gala, creating and funding the Annual Patterson Student Community Service Award and promoting and raising funds for ACE.

The SBOE Hero for Children award recognizes excellence in advocacy for education and highlights outstanding volunteers who make significant contributions to Texas public education. This is the thirteenth year the SBOE has recognized volunteers in this way.

ACE is a non-traditional alternative campus for at-risk youth. ACE was established with seed money from the Texas Education Agency and the Education Economic Policy Center. Using a non-traditional approach to education, ACE is the collaborative result of a design team composed of educators and community representatives. ACE has been recognized by the Texas Education Agency and the Dropout Prevention Network as a model school.