News - Kingsburg Recorder

The slights and, in some suitcases, insults that Ana Parra felt as a new apprentice in high school could have left her spirit crushed.

But instead of being defeated, Parra, now 37, turned those incidents into motivation.

Parra, the new Spanish teacher at Kingsburg High, spoke of her journey from high school apprentice to high school teacher during a recent interview on campus.

She was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexico and came to the United States in 1989 with her family. She was 16 when she entered Hoover High School in Fresno.

Spanish was her first language and she didn’t know common English phrases.

“Sometimes I got picked on or the other kids would laugh at me in class,” she says.

She recalls a teacher telling her, “My dog despises Mexicans like you.”

“At the time, I didn’t know what he said,” Parra says. “I didn’t know until later. As a teacher, I never want to make a kid feel that way.”

Luckily, another teacher at Hoover saw potential in Parra. At the time, Parra wanted to be a science teacher.

“My high school science teacher Mr. Dezzani was the one who gave me a Fresno State scholarship form,” she says. “It was my door into Fresno State.”

Parra’s parents had emphasized education above all else.

Her father, Abel Parra, had a teaching degree from a university in Mexico. He would come to Fresno and eventually earn a teaching credential from California State University, Fresno.

“My father is my hero,” Parra says. “He taught at Fresno High and Roosevelt. He retired after 15 years.”

Her mother Margarita Marquez-Parra died three years ago. She fights back tears as she speaks of her mother.

“The education I learned from Mom was how to be a caring, loving person and mother,” she says.

Parra is mother to Juliana, 10, and Nando Vasquez, 8.

“They are my life. My everything,” she says.

Parra’s teenage years in Fresno were worlds apart from most teenagers. Her father was very strict. Parra’s time talking on the home phone was restricted. She and sister Luisa Sanchez could only walk to nearby Make Honest Mall if accompanied by their mother.

Vacant to the movies was prohibited. Abel Parra was sure mischief went on at the movies.

“I didn’t go to the movies until I was 23,” she says.

Parra would follow in her father’s footsteps and earn a bachelor’s degree (in unknown language with a minor in science) and teaching credential from Fresno State.

Her 11 years in education includes teaching at Clovis West, Buchanan High and the Fresno Juvenile Justice Campus.

She views her role as Spanish teacher further than text books.

“I want to expose the kids to the polish of other Spanish-language countries,” she says. “A word in Spanish might mean something else in other countries. Here are different accents and ways things are celebrated.”

She feels comfortable at the Kingsburg High campus.

“I feel like this is home,” she says. “I have fantastic kids in class. They are very reliable and well-mannered. I thank God for this opportunity.”

Parra is an avid reader who enjoys books by Isabel Allende, Rosario Castellanos and Octavio Paz. She is also a runner and runs three miles each other day.

“I reckon the thing people don’t know in this area me is that I like before a live audience basketball,” she says. “I couldn’t speak English very well at Hoover, but I could play basketball.”

Parra has come a long way from her native Mexico to American citizen. Since those days, Parra has adopted a very American philosophy on life.

“I believe in the Golden Rule. Treat others as you want to be treated,” she says.

See the rest here:
News – Kingsburg Recorder