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By; Isabella Verdugo

My mom, Carolyn Verdugo, is worthy of the nomination for the Parent of the Year Award. She has sacrificed everything for both mine and my brothers private catholic school education. As a faith-based household, she always instilled the importance of relating knowledge with ethics and our faith.

More importantly, she has a thankless job as a special resource’s teacher. For decades, my mother has devoted her life to helping educate and supporting her students with mild-severe special needs. She works not only during the school year but also during summer and winter break because she truly loves what she does. She chooses to teach in low socio-economic areas to support the students that may not have the most support outside of school. Most of her students have parents that work 3-6 jobs or they live with their grandparents. Gang violence is a prevalent concern for her kids. One time, she saw one of her students came in beat up and disheveled. Turns out her student was beaten by some gang members on the way to school. She then proceeded to take my purple bike from my middle school years, spray painted it black, and gave it to her student. He was then able to get home fast enough before they could bother him again. Another instance, she noticed how one of her students was very talented in basketball but couldn’t afford to play on an actual team. She managed to get him and his family a scholarship to the YMCA. He was able to play on a team and she attended every game. She typically attends her kids’ games in soccer and basketball to show support for the healthy hobbies they part take in. She believes in having a good foundation with not only the students but the parents as well despite a language barrier. She always has an interpreter/translator for the parents who only speak Spanish, Vietnamese, and Mandarin to ensure they are on the same page to best support the student. In addition, this year due to all the government shut downs there were lots of budget cuts for education. With the goal to push her students to reach their full potential, my mom made a donation page (Donorschoose.org/C.Verdugo). The donations go towards providing flexible seating for her students. Everyone can learn, some have more challenges than others and she tries to minimize the challenge for her students so they too can reach their full potential. My mom also brings in speakers to inspire her kids. These speakers talk about both college opportunities and trade skill opportunities. Whenever possible, she tries to teach her kids about successful people of all races, genders, and those who came from similar backgrounds as her kids to show they too can be an astronaut or doctor or successful business owner.

It’s not always easy, sometimes she loses her kids to gang violence or deportation if they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, she stays motivated to be a strong support system for her kids.

I personally have seen how her work impacts her students and their families. Every single time we go to Walmart, we always run into a student or past student of hers. I’ve seen their mothers leap to hug my mom and thank her for all she has done for their kid(s). She has a firm belief that anyone given a chance and an opportunity for a good education can reach their full potential. My mom is one of the most selfless people I know.

Unfortunately, as well with the budget cuts they shut down three schools in her area including hers. Many of the parents of her students panicked because they weren’t sure how their children were going to continue to get the support they have been receiving by my mom and her assistant. Several of the students had gone to other schools before and their learning needs where not met. My mom has been in active communication with those parents to try to guide the parents to ensure their kid goes to a school with a good special resources program or to the same school she or her assistant has been assigned to, to ensure the support is maintained.

This year has been a very difficult one for her. She continues to persevere. She continues to provide everything she possibly can for all kids. I thought this award be something nice for her. She has been a great mom for myself and my brother, but an influential mentor for many other children as well.