It takes a village

Today I accepted an award from the Governor's Commission on Hispanic Affairs for Educator of the Year. I was flattered and humbled to be in the presence of people who dedicate EVERYTHING to help the community. As a young educator, I hope to be like the abuelita they honored today with a Lifetime Achievement Award, whose only words of gratitude were, "I love my students!" The keynote speaker was incredible. He is a Neurosurgeon at John Hopkins who came from Mexico as a child, was a migrant agricultural worker, and eventually became the 1st Latino valedictorian at Harvard Medical School. Wow.

Here I am with the wonderful woman who nominated me, Genny Segura (Policy Analyst for the MD Commission on High Education):



I sped back to school to prepare for the 1st Hispanic Family meeting of the year. I returned home to cook dinner, deal with the electrician, change clothes and go back to school for the meeting. It was a little unorganized, but our parents are so patient and grateful for the help. I was touched that they wanted to sign a petition to try to convince the school district to keep funding my position. I worked with some amazing teachers and got great feedback from parents. While Wall Street runs amok with greedy capitalists, it's touching to work alongside people who care about those in their communities. We all need to change the culture of education in this country. We can begin with accepting the belief that it really does take a village to raise a child.