Maria Eugenia Sanchez is a mother, school board member,
instructor
Gilroy – Maria Eugenia Sanchez rings the silver bell sitting in the palm of her hand.
The roomful of children quickly come to attention as she slowly counts “uno, dos, tres,” on her index, middle and ring fingers.
Once all is calm, Sanchez calls the preschoolers, one-by-one, directing each child to one corner of the classroom. Some quickly find their place, while others ignore the order, either intentionally or perhaps due to a language barrier.
But Sanchez patiently leads the stragglers to their assigned spots before escorting her group to a table in the front. As an immigrant herself, the elementary teacher understands the challenges of grasping a second language.
She remembers immigrating to Morgan Hill as an 8-year-old and being placed in English-only classes.
“Eventually you learn, but it’s difficult,” she said.
That’s why Sanchez employs a bilingual approach when teaching her pre-kindergartners at Glen View Elementary School’s summer program. Two of her summer students, who hail from Oaxaca, Mexico, barely even know Spanish, instead speaking a dialect called Mixteca.
“The only way to really reach out to them is to speak Spanish,” she said. “Regardless of what language they speak, they should feel comfortable.”
The language issue may seem challenging enough but Sanchez’s job entails even more. Try adding in a heaping teaspoon of a squirmy 5-year-old, the zero school experience most of the students possess when they walk into her classroom, plus their status as migrants, and its obvious Sanchez has her hands full.
But that doesn’t even begin to describe the teacher’s packed schedule. During the school year Sanchez, who moved to Hollister at the age of 12, teaches Spanish for Las Animas Elementary School’s Dual Immersion program.
For the past three summers she’s taught Migrant Education program to preschoolers. And she’s also president of the Hollister Elementary School District board. Sanchez graduated from San Benito High School and earned an associate’s degree from Gavilan College in cosmetology before marrying.
But a career in cosmetology wasn’t the future Sanchez envisioned. She attended San Jose State University for a year but dropped out after becoming pregnant.
“So it took me forever to obtain my bachelor’s degree and my credential,” she said.
She eventually went back to school, earning a bachelor’s and teaching credential from California State University, Monterey Bay.
Three years ago she began teaching at Las Animas Elementary School, a career she had long planned to pursue.
“I always thought that education was the key to success and I felt that if we all have a good foundation in education, we can blossom and pursue our dreams,” she said, adding that she hopes to pass that motivation onto her students.
Long before Sanchez began her foray into teaching she’d already dipped her foot in education. As a parent of two – both enrolled in Hollister public schools – Sanchez began volunteering to serve on committees. She became involved with local schools on both the district and site level.
Once she started regularly attending board meetings she noticed there were no parent representatives on the board. Four years ago she decided to throw her name in the Hollister Elementary School District board race – and walked away a winner.
She’s up for reelection this November. Now, as board president, Sanchez is entangled in all the Hollister school drama. As a trustee she has successfully aided the implementation of all-day kindergarten, which is currently being fazed into the Gilroy Unified School District.
Also, Sanchez is hoping to implement specialized programs at Hollister elementary schools, such as accelerated classes.
For this educator serving on a school board, with the resume of teacher and parent, is enlightening.
“You look at everything, at all the perspectives,” she said.
That’s the motto Sanchez uses in the classroom as well.
