Dad of Top Educator Taught What Matters Most

By Editor Ken Harvey

The LEAP Educator of the Year credits her illiterate father for teaching her the keys to success.

Although Lupe (Guadalupe) Ledesma’s father had essentially no formal schooling, he and Lupe’s mother always required their 14 children to get their homework done and promoted academics in other ways, as well.

Her father also taught Lupe to be proactive.

"My dad taught me not by word but by example that if you see a need, you do something about it," says Brewster’s director of federal programs.

The Latino/a Education Achievement Project (LEAP) recognized Lupe as the state’s top educator at its annual conference in February. "It was a great honor," she says.

Ironically, as a teen-ager, Lupe had a negative experience as a peer tutor and swore she would never be an educator. But circumstances in 1991 caused her to accept a job as a paraprofessional for Brewster High School.

But Lupe was not happy with the way some teachers did their work – they "sometimes didn’t have the heart," she says. "But instead of complaining, I needed to do something about it."

With a scholarship from the Educational Service District, she went back to college to complete her bachelor’s degree and become a teacher.

She traveled to Wenatchee every weekend for 3½ years to become a teacher.

She enjoyed teaching, but Lupe decided she could do more good as a counselor, working with students one on one. So she began working on her master’s degree.

"A lot of kids do not know how to dream," Lupe says. Helping students capture a vision of success was one of her goals after she became a counselor at Brewster High and now as director of federal programs.

"If you help children capture a vision, you have given them a powerful tool," she says. "Very young in age, we need to help children visualize."

Hispanic students need more role models from among their own people, she adds.

"Kids don’t know what they want, but when it’s in front of them, they recognize it," Lupe says.

For that reason, Lupe became involved with such programs as LEAP and the Student Leadership Program. And she took her students with her so they could meet Hispanic leaders, former migrant students and others who had overcome the same obstacles that Lupe’s students face.

"With opportunities like that, they become empowered," Lupe says. "The students have a voice, and they need to recognize it."

During the six years she was working on her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, Lupe had to put in about 70 hours a week on job and school. And she still puts in a lot of extra time in order to have time for both administrative duties and her students.

"As director I can do so much," she says. "So as the years have gone by, I have expanded my role – but it has taken a lot of ‘corazon’ (heart)."

At the same time, she has been raising her own three outstanding children – one of which is now in college and the other two in high school.

The key to the success of her children and her students, Lupe says, is helping them to dream big dreams.

To parents Lupe counsels, "You have to support your children. You have to nurture them, because someone evidently is planting that seed."

"I firmly believe that everything I say or do impacts children. So I’m very careful. One remark can harm a child," Lupe says.

She urges parents to set priorities. "Getting kids the name-brand jeans and the name-brand shoes will not help them succeed."

Her message to students is, "Si, se puede." ("You can do it.")

"It’s a cliché but so true," Lupe says. "There is so much worthy inside a child. They need someone to say, ‘I believe in you.’

"You have to set your sights high so you can get there," Lupe tells students. "Overcoming barriers is part of life, no matter where you’re at."