Tag Archives: Latino American Teachers

Teachers who were Latino Americans, or who worked with Latino American student populations.

Former teacher and formidable labor leader Dolores Huerta

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Former elementary school teacher and formidable civil rights leader Dolores Huerta worked tirelessly to secure better working conditions for migrant farm workers in the 1960’s. Photo credit: Public Domain.

Like many people I have heard of formidable civil rights leader Dolores Huerta. She worked tirelessly to secure better working conditions for migrant farm workers in the 1960’s. But did you know she was also once a teacher?

Dolores was born in Dawson, New Mexico, on April 10, 1930. In fact, she just celebrated her 93rd birthday earlier this week. Raised in Stockton, California, Dolores graduated in 1955 with an AA and her teaching credentials from the College of the Pacific. After her college graduation, she accepted a teaching position in a rural Stockton elementary school. She had been teaching for only a short time when she realized she wanted to devote her vast energy to migrant farm workers and their families. “I couldn’t stand seeing farm worker children come to class hungry and in need of shoes,” she once explained. “I thought I could do more by organizing their parents than by trying to teach their hungry children.”

After just one year, Dolores resigned from her teaching position, determined to launch a campaign that would fight the numerous economic injustices faced by migrant agricultural workers. Joining forces with the legendary labor leader Cesar Chavez, the intrepid educator helped organize a large-scale strike against the commercial grape growers of the San Joaquin Valley, an effort which raised national awareness of the abysmal treatment of America’s agricultural workers. She also negotiated contracts which led to their improved working conditions. The rest, as they say, is history.

Although there are several fairly good juvenile biographies of this extraordinary woman, there is no definitive adult biography about her. The closest thing to it is A Dolores Huerta Reader edited by Mario T. Garcia. This book includes an informative biographical introduction by the editor, articles and book excerpts written about her, her own writings and transcripts of her speeches, and an interview with Mario Garcia. You can find A Dolores Huerta Reader on amazon. I have also included a chapter about this remarkable teacher in my second book, entitled Chalkboard Heroes.

AVID teacher Rosa Dockal mentors at-risk students

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Rosa Dockal, an AVID teacher in San Antonio, Texas, was just a child and couldn’t speak English when she came to this country as an immigrant. Now she teaches at-risk, first-generation students. Photo Credit: Open Sky Media Publications

I always enjoy sharing stories about inspirational educators from around the country. One of these is Rosa Dockal, a teacher from San Antonio, Texas. She was named one of her District’s Teachers of the Year in 2021.

Rosa currently teaches AVID courses at Travis Early College High School in the San Antonio Independent School District. Her career as an educator spans 25 years. The AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program provides extra support for low-income, minority students. The curriculum involves instruction in note-taking and study skills, tutoring, and mentoring. Most of the students who graduate from the program have earned a high school diploma plus an Associate’s degree and up to 60 college credits from San Antonio College. 

Rosa’s family immigrated to San Antonio from Mexico when she was a pre-schooler. “When I came from Mexico, I didn’t know English, so I knew the struggle of learning a different language. It’s not easy,” Rosa declares. But by the time she was in the fifth grade, she was at the top of her class, and she was placed in a magnet program.

Even though she was the first in her family to graduate from high school, Rosa declared her intent to go to college to become a teacher. “I didn’t know what a FAFSA was,” she admits. “My parents didn’t speak the language, so I had to do it by myself—but I didn’t do it by myself, because I had so many teachers and counselors who helped me,” she says. “If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know if I would have gone,” she confesses.

Rosa earned her Bachelor’s degree in Spanish from the University of Texas, San Antonio. Once she landed her teaching position at Travis, she began to work with at-risk, first-generation students like herself. In addition to her AVID courses, she also teaches Spanish language classes.

For her exemplary work with young people, Rosa was named one of several teachers in her district as a Teacher of the Year in 2021.

NV teacher Rejily Soriano garners prestigious 2022-2023 Milken Educator Award

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Kindergarten teacher Rejily Soriano of West Wendover, Nevada, has garnered a prestigious 2022-2023 Milken Educator Award. Photo Credit: Elko Daily Free Press

There are many exceptional teachers working in our nation’s schools who are deserving of recognition. One of these is Rejily Soriano, an elementary school teacher from West Wendover, Nevada. She has garnered a prestigious 2022-2023 Milken Educator Award.

The Milken Educator Awards have been described by Teacher Magazine as the “Oscars of Teaching.” In addition to a $25,000 cash prize and public recognition, the honor includes membership in the National Milken Educator Network, a group of more than 3,000 exemplary teachers, principals, and specialists from all over the country who work towards strengthening best practices in education. To learn more, click on Milken Educator Awards.

Rejily maintains high expectations for her kindergarten students. She is also careful to make strong connections with the children, supporting them as they In fact, most of her students are reading by the end of the year, and in May 2022, 89% reached grade level or above on standardized assessments in both math and English Language Arts.

In her classroom, Rejily puts emphasis on developing strong relationships with both students and their families. She communicates with parents often in both English and Spanish, maintaining open lines of communication about all aspects of students’ school experiences. She possesses an unwavering dedication to her job and her students as she works towards successful outcomes for every child in her class.

A teacher leader on her campus, Rejily is the school’s Leader in Me coordinator; she sits on the school improvement committee; and she designs professional development for her colleagues. In addition, she is the lead teacher for kindergarten, mentors new teachers, and is a leader for the school’s social-emotional learning efforts.

Rejily earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Western Governors University in 2017. She earned her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction there in 2020. She inaugurated her career in education in the Grow Your Own teacher recruitment program sponsored by Elko County School District. Through this teacher recruitment program, she worked with preschool students in the Head Start program before moving up to kindergarten.

To read more about Rejily Soriano, see this article about her published by the Elko Daily Free Press.

California teacher Maria Lopez worked to secure the right to vote for women

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Dedicated English as a Second Language teacher Maria Lopez worked diligently towards securing the right to vote for women in California. Photo Credit: National Women’s History Museum

There are many dedicated women educators who worked tirelessly to secure the right to vote for women. One of these was Maria Lopez, an English teacher from Southern California.

Maria Guadalupe Evangelina de Lopez was born in Los Angeles in 1881, at Casa Vieja, her family home in the San Gabriel. Her father, who worked as a blacksmith, was an immigrant from Mexico.

As a young girl, Maria graduated from Pasadena High School in 1897. She then enrolled at the Los Angeles State Normal School, which would later become UCLA. There she studied to be a teacher. Once she earned her teaching certificate, Maria accepted a position at Los Angeles High School, where she taught English as a Second Language. She also worked as a translator. During her years as a professional educator, Maria earned a reputation for being a devoted teacher, working diligently to educate the general public about California culture and to promote Spanish-language instruction. In 1902, Maria became part of the faculty at the University of California, becoming possibly the youngest instructor on staff there at the time.

In addition to teaching at the university, Maria became active in the local Votes for Women Club, and in 1911, she was elected President of the College Equal Suffrage League. She translated information about the suffrage movement into Spanish in order to marshal support for the movement in the Hispanic community. She traveled throughout Southern California, distributing suffrage posters and literature and giving speeches, all in Spanish. In addition, she wrote a persuasive opinion piece published in the Los Angeles Herald on Aug. 20, 1911, which advanced the argument that California could not call itself a democracy while disenfranchising half its citizens. Happily, California passed a suffrage proposition on Oct. 10, 1911, becoming the sixth state in the nation to grant the right to vote to women, nine years before the passage of the 19th Amendment.

During World War I, Maria left her teaching position to support the war effort. She relocated to New York City, where she took courses in auto mechanics and flying. Then she traveled to France, where she served as an ambulance driver. While there, the hospital where Maria and three other women were stationed was bombarded by enemy fire, and the four worked all night carrying wounded soldiers to safety. The French government honored the four for their bravery in 1918.

Maria passed away on Nov. 20, 1977, in Orange, California. She is buried at San Gabriel Christian Church in Los Angeles.

Former teacher, NASA astronaut Joseph Acaba earns new appointment

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Joseph Acaba, former Melbourne High School science teacher turned veteran astronaut, has just been appointed Chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Photo Credit: Yahoo News

As an astronaut, Joseph Acaba has logged a total of 306 days in space on three flights, first as a mission specialist on the space shuttle Discovery, and twice aboard the International Space Station. And recently, this veteran astronaut was appointed as Chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office at Johnson Space Center in Houston, the first astronaut of Hispanic heritage selected to lead the office. But did you know that this accomplished individual was once a science and mathematics teacher?

Before his selection by NASA in 2004 as one of three “educator astronauts,” an initiative intended to build upon Challenger astronaut Christa McAuliffe’s Teacher in Space legacy, he spent his first year, 1999-2000, as a full-time teacher at Melbourne High School in Florida. There he taught freshman science before moving on to teach math and science in Dunnellon Middle School in Florida, where he remained for four years.

And that is not all of this Chalkboard Champion’s impressive employment history. Joe was a member of the United States Marine Corps Reserves. He  also worked as a hydro-geologist in Los Angeles, California, primarily on Superfund sites. And he spent two years in the United States Peace Corps as an Environmental Education Awareness Promoter in the Dominican Republic. In addition, he worked for a time as the manager of the Caribbean Marine Research Center at Lee Stocking Island in the Exumas, Bahamas.

Joe once said that, as an educator astronaut, he hoped to reach out to minority students. On March 18, 2008, he traveled to Puerto Rico, where he was honored by the island’s senate. During his visit, Joe met with school children at the capitol and at Science Park located in Bayamon. Science Park boasts a planetarium and several surplus NASA rockets among its exhibits. Joe made a second trip to Puerto Rico on June 1, 2009. On that trip he spent seven days on the island and came into contact with over 10,000 citizens, most of them school children.