Donald PearsonAlbuquerque,
New Mexico
October
13, 2004
Dear
Teacher Corps Friends:
Since
it�s not likely that I�ll be able to join you at the reunion, here�s a
rundown on what�s been happening in my life since I last saw you:
- You
may remember that I was the first trainee to resign (I truthfully
couldn�t stand the C.S. from EPISD (y no estoy
hablando de �con safos�). I sincerely hope that the EPISD people are
much more enlightened thirty years later!
- Shortly
afterwards, Salvador Valdez, Arturo Franco, Alberto Franco, and
Guillermo Acosta also resigned (I know that some of them later returned
to teaching). Together we published Nosotros
Magazine until 1974.
- After
a short stint at El Paso SER as a GED instructor, I spent the next six
years (until 1981) working at Montgomery Ward in Cielo Vista Mall; part
of that time was as a leased department manager and later as the
customer service manager.
- In
1981 � 1983, for about a year and a half, I was news and production
director for the Spanish-language radio station XEZOL, working out of
the El Paso studios (best job I ever had, except for the money).
- From
1984 to 1989 I was first a teacher, then academic dean at Durham
College, which used to be at the corner of Wyoming and Cotton. As dean I
instituted programs in Import-Export Specialist, Bilingual Secretary,
and Small Business Management (I taught the Spanish courses as well as
some other subjects). Unfortunately, the redneck owners from Tennessee
didn�t see the value of the aforementioned programs (which were
well-attended) and cut them within a couple of years.
- From
1989 to 1996 I taught computer classes (as well as a few other subjects,
mainly in the business English area) at International Business College
on Zaragosa. I left El Paso for Albuquerque in March 1996.
- Other
than jobs, while I was still in El Paso I cut a record in 1973 and
continued my career as a semiprofessional mariachi singer/composer until
about 1983. I also assisted Bert Salazar with the publishing and editing
of the monthly tabloid El Pase�o
between 1985 and 1990. And I married the former Mar�a G�mez in 1990
(we�re still married).
- My
first four years in Albuquerque were mainly dedicated to working as a
software instructor at Computer Corner, which provides service and
training in addition to retail. Since January 2001 I�ve been the Chief
GED Examiner at Albuquerque TVI, the local community college. Things
have been going well for me at TVI; I make it to El Paso at least twice
a year to see old friends and my wife�s relatives.
- No
children of my own, but I helped raised Mar�a�s two daughters and one
son, and at this point we have four grandchildren (the latest was born
August 30). And I�m still enjoying a completely bilingual-bicultural
lifestyle.
Unas
palabras al final: Me renunci� del Teacher Corps �nica y exclusivamente
porque no toleraba la pol�tica del EPISD. Me encantaba trabajar y estudiar
con ustedes y tengo muy buenos recuerdos de todos; tambi�n de los alumnos y
los padres de familia. Que se diviertan todos en la reuni�n.
Su
seguro servidor,
Don
Pearson